Culpeper Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Culpeper, Virginia 22701
Saturday, August 19, 2000 17:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot departed the airport for the last leg of the solo cross-country flight. About 50 feet above the runway, the engine RPMs suddenly and smoothly dropped to an estimated 1700 RPMs, 'as if the throttle was being pulled back.' The student pilot advanced and retarded the throttle several times; however, the engine maintained a constant speed of 1700 RPMs. He pulled the mixture to the cut-off position, and performed an emergency landing in a field. Examination of the airplane revealed the throttle linkage had become disconnected from the throttle. The linkage was reconnected and the engine was started. While the engine was running, the linkage was disconnected again, and the engine RPMs decreased to 1500 RPMs. The last annual inspection was performed on April 21, 2000, and the airplane had accumulated 79 flight hours since then.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The partial loss of power due to an inadequate annual inspection, which resulted in the throttle linkage becoming disconnected from the throttle.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/19/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1715
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City CULPEPER
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 22701
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport CULPEPER REGIONAL AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CJR
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 313
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1723 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID CJR
Elevation of weather observation facility 313
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1433
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) 10153
NTSB Notification Source Washignton FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Aug 21 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1600
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 17 2001 8:35AM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N67495
NTSB Number NYC00LA234
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 15281866
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 21 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 79
Airframe Hours 6231
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AIRE SHANNON INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City FREDRICKSBURG
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 22408
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CJR
Departure City CULPEPER
Departure State VA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1710
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code EZF
Destination City FREDRICKSBURG
Destination State VA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 9 2001 4:02AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 4
Runway Length 4002
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --