Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Covington Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Covington, Georgia 30209
Sunday, March 26, 1989 14:49 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT REPORTED THAT THE ENGINE GRADUALLY BEGAN TO LOSE PWR JUST AFTER TAKEOFF. THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO DESCEND, AND SUBSEQUENTLY CRASHED INTO TREES NEAR THE END OF THE RWY. A POST-CRASH EXAM OF THE ACFT REVEALED THAT THE CARB HEAT CONTROL WAS IN THE 'HOT' POSITION. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE DID NOT USE CARB HEAT DURING THE FLT, OR DURING PRE-FLT RUN-UP. FURTHER EXAM OF THE ACFT AFTER REMOVAL FROM THE CRASH SITE REVEALED IMPACT-RELATED MARKS ON CARB-HEAT CONTROL PUSH-PULL ROD SYSTEM, WHICH INDICATED THAT THE CONTROL WAS IN THE 'HOT' POSITION AT THE TIME OF IMPACT. THE CARB HEAT CONTROL WAS NOT READILY VISIBLE TO THE PLT, DUE TO ITS LOCATION. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF ANY PRE-EXISTING MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. NO EVIDENCE OF CONTAMINATION WAS FOUND IN THE AIRPLANE FUEL SUPPLY OR SYSTEM. THE AMBIENT AIR TEMP WAS RPRTD TO BE 80 DEG; THE DENSITY ALT WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 2700 FT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT BY THE PILOT BY INADVERTENTLY ALLOWING THE CARBURETOR HEAT TO BE IN THE 'HOT' POSITION FOR TAKEOFF. THE HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE AND TREES WERE CONSIDERED TO BE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/26/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1449 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | COVINGTON |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30209 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | COVINGTON MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 9A1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 795 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1451 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1026 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2700 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1040 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 26 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1524 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39246 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N55530 |
| NTSB Number | ATL89FA114 |
| 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 | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | A75N1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A75N1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-4472 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | Oct 2 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 5289 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GROVER L. ANDERSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 995 MILLS DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | COVINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30209 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1449 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |