Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Causey Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Liberty, North Carolina 27298
Tuesady, June 29, 1999 12:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was in cruise at 6,500 feet msl, when the engine started to run rough. Two to three minutes later the engine stopped operating, and the pilot requested vectors to the nearest airport. While setting himself up for a forced landing, the cabin filled with smoke, and the pilot cracked open the cabin door to evacuate the smoke. The airplane touched down short of the runway and sustained main landing gear damage. Postcrash examination revealed muffler and muffler shroud breaching that allowed engine exhaust to impinge on and burn components of the nose landing gear, the air induction system, and the lower fuselage. NTSB Materials Laboratory examination revealed the muffler failed due to scaling and intergranular attack occurring over a period of time that would have been evident 30 flight hours previous when the airplane underwent an annual inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper inspection of the muffler assembly resulting in erosion going undetected and the rupture of the muffler and shroud while in cruise flight. The condition caused melting of portions of the air induction system, loss of engine power, and the pilot's attempted forced landing that resulted in collision with terrain that sheared one main landing gear and fractured the wheel of the other main landing gear. A factor in the accident was the pilot's obscured vision due to smoke in the cockpit.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/29/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LIBERTY |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27298 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | CAUSEY AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2A5 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 723 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BUY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 617 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1459 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 29 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1610 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2001 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7114V |
| NTSB Number | MIA99LA191 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 220049 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3127 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 21 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 2128 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMAS S. WILSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 386 WILLIAMSON RD. STE 104 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MOORESVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28117 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PHF |
| Departure City | NEWPORT NEWS |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1240 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 14A |
| Destination City | MOORESVILLE |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2001 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 3002 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |