Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Houston Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houston, Texas 77032
Thursday, August 23, 1990 17:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PASSENGERS & WITNESSES REPORTED THAT DURING TAKEOFF, THE AIRCRAFT YAWED BOTH LEFT & RIGHT AFTER LIFT-OFF. IT THEN VEERED TO THE LEFT & CONTACTED THE GROUND IN A LEFT WING LOW ATTITUDE BETWEEN THE RUNWAY & A PARALLEL TAXIWAY. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED EVIDENCE THAT THE LEFT ENGINE HAD SUSTAINED A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER DUE TO A MALFUNCTIONING FUEL PUMP. THERE WERE INDICATIONS THE POWER LOSS WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO TRIGGER OR ALLOW COMPLETION OF THE AUTOFEATHERING OPERATION OF THE LEFT PROPELLER. FEATHERING OF THE LEFT PROPELLER HAD BEEN MANUALLY INITIATED, BUT THE PROPELLER HAD NOT REACHED THE FEATHER POSITION BEFORE IMPACT. MANUAL FEATHERING OPERATION REQUIRED THE FEATHERING PUMP BUTTON BE HELD ABOUT 5 SEC. 'V' SPEEDS (KIAS) FOR THIS FLT WERE: V1 92, VR 99, V2 110, NORMAL VMCA (DEAD ENGINE PROPELLER FEATHERED, FLAPS SET FOR TAKEOFF & AIRCRAFT OUT OF GROUND EFFECT) 101, VMCA (DEAD ENGINE PROPELLER UNFEATHERED/WINDMILLING & FLAPS SET FOR TAKEOFF) 127 KTS. EXAM OF THE ACTUATORS REVEALED THE GEAR WAS RETRACTED & THE FLAPS WERE SET FOR TAKEOFF.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
PARTIAL FAILURE OF THE LEFT ENGINE FUEL PUMP, WHICH RESULTED IN A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER IN THE LEFT ENGINE, BUT NOT ENOUGH OF A POWER LOSS TO TRIGGER AND/OR COMPLETE THE AUTOFEATHERING OPERATION OF THE LEFT PROPELLER, THUS ALLOWING INSUFFICIENT TIME FOR THE CREW TO MANUALLY FEATHER THE PROPELLER OR ATTAIN VMC (FOR THE AIRCRAFT CONFIGURED WITH AN UNFEATHERED PROPELLER).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | HOUSTON |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77032 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HOUSTON INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IAH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 110 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1720 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IAH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 110 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| 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) | 29.9 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1560 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | 8 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 15 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2175 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 44801 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N80RD |
| NTSB Number | FTW90MA161 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GRUMMAN |
| Aircraft Model | G-159 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | G-159 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 198 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 36000 |
| 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 | 17 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 3 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 5343 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RDC MARINE, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5051 WESTHEIMER |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOUSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77056 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ROWAN COMPANIES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IAH |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1719 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MSY |
| Destination City | NEW ORLEANS |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14L |
| Runway Length | 12000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |