Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Enochville, North Carolina 28144
Saturday, September 23, 2000 19:06 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Witnesses watched the airplane departing the airstrip, and when it did not return, they suspected that something had gone wrong. About 1 or 2 miles from the airport the pilot said, "I had an engine failure." He tried to land in a field but struck the top of a tree and then hit the ground. The FAA examined the wreckage, and found that there was fuel in the tanks, the fuel cap for the right fuel tank was not on the tank and was missing. External inspection indicated the engine had no fuel or oil leaks, the condition and color of the plugs insulation and electrode indicated no fouling, the engine was a little on the lean side, and operated on automotive gasoline. The pilot indicated that he flew a total of 5 hours in the accident airplane in the past 90 days, 3 hours in the past 30 days, and none the 24 hours before the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/23/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1906
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City ENOCHVILLE
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 28144
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 9
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 1900 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID RUQ
Elevation of weather observation facility 773
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 73
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 70
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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) 13500
NTSB Notification Source FAA SE REG COM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Sep 23 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1945
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2003 9:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3483A
NTSB Number MIA00LA269
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-22-135
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-22-135
Aircraft Serial Number 1753
Certified Max Gross Weight 1950
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 14 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 4
Airframe Hours 3000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KENNETH CARPENTER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1075 LAKE RD.
Aircraft Owner City CHINA GROVE
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 28023
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 17 2001 10:40AM
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 --