Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Corning, Arkansas 72422
Sunday, January 2, 2000 18:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was cruising at flight level 270 (27,000 feet) in dark night IMC, when the pilot heard a 'muffled thump,' from the engine. He observed an 'immediate loss of power (torque 0/ng 20%),' declared an emergency to ATC, and was advised of the nearest airport. He attempted one air restart and two electrical restarts, but was unsuccessful. During the ensuing forced landing, the airplane entered VFR conditions descending through 5,000 feet, and came to rest in a field, in 3-5 feet of standing water, southeast of the airport. A review of the downloaded data from the engine trend monitor and examination of the engine and its components by Pratt and Whitney did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation prior to the loss of engine power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power for an undetermined reason. A factor was the dark night light condition.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/2/2000
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City CORNING
Event State ARKANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 72422
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1820 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID ARG
Elevation of weather observation facility 273
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 2700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 200
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 283
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 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 315
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 3 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N87NF
NTSB Number FTW00LA067
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-46-310P
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-46-310P
Aircraft Serial Number 4608099
Certified Max Gross Weight 4500
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 4300
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN H.CULBERTSON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2625 HOWELL MILL ROAD
Aircraft Owner City ATLANTA
Aircraft Owner State GA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 30327
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 TEX
Departure City TELLURIDE
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PDK
Destination City ATLANTA
Destination State GA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --