Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Conesus, New York 14435
Tuesady, March 7, 2000 18:58 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was repositioning the airplane from his private airstrip, to an airport about 10 nautical miles to the south, at night. The pilot had flown 1.3 daytime hours in the previous 90 days, all on the day before the accident; however, the accident airplane had not been flown in 6 months. The airplane's left wing was refueled with 8-10 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. The airplane was preflighted, and fuel samples were taken from both tanks, the strainer, and both wings. No water or sediments were observed. The pilot completed an engine run-up, then took off. During the climb, about 400 feet above the ground, the engine quit. The pilot switched the fuel selector from the left tank to the right tank. The engine began to produce power again, but not full power. The pilot opted to land at a nearby unlighted airstrip. During the approach, while on base leg, and with the engine still running, the airplane impacted a tree. The pilot stated: 'I was checking the engine gauges and wasn't watching my altitude closely enough.' Post-flight inspection of the airplane revealed no mechanical malfunctions. However, corrosion and severe pitting were found inside the fuel bowl.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The contamination of the aircraft's fuel. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude and his diversion of attention during the base turn, dark night conditions, and the tree.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/7/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1858 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | CONESUS |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14435 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PRIVATE AIRSTRIP |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 1854 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ROC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 560 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4300 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 184 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 7 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2241 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9040D |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-22 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22-6178 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 1782 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TIMOTHY J. EDWARDS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6594 HOES HILL ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CONESUS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 14435 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1857 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DSV |
| Destination City | DANSVILLE |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM |
| 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 | -- |