Denton Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Denton, Texas 76201
Wednesday, September 6, 1989 16:24 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT TAXIED THE AIRCRAFT TO THE DEPARTURE RUNWAY AND PERFORMED A NORMAL PRE-TAKEOFF RUN UP. THE AIRCRAFT WAS VIEWED BY NUMEROUS PILOTS TO DEPART TO THE SOUTH AND MAKE A NORMAL RIGHT CLIMBING TURN. DURING THE CLIMB TO THE SOUTHWEST, THE WITNESSES HEARD THE ENGINE SURGE AND STOP. THE AIRCRAFT WAS SEEN TO LEVEL AND DESCEND AS IT CONTINUED THE RIGHT TURN BACK TOWARD THE AIRPORT. IT WAS OBSERVED TO STALL AT APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET AGL PRIOR TO IMPACTING INTO THE OPEN FIELD ADJACENT THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT HAD NOT SUMPED THE FUEL SYSTEM DURING THE AIRCRAFT PRE-FLIGHT. WATER WAS FOUND IN THE FUEL SYSTEM AND POWERPLANT DURING THE INVESTIGATION.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO DETECT WATER IN THE FUEL SYSTEM DURING THE PREFLIGHT WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY RESULTED IN A LOSS OF POWER.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/6/1989
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1624
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City DENTON
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76201
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport DENTON MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DTO
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 642
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 37
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 4000
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 1
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1244
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 6 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1715
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 39384
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 1:03PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N51VP
NTSB Number FTW89DPA04
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 NORTH AMERICAN
Aircraft Model F-51
Aircraft Series Identifier F-51
Aircraft Serial Number 44-73142
Certified Max Gross Weight 14000
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name J. BRADFORD ENTERPRISES
Aircraft Owner Street Address RR 5 SUITE 15 PO BOX 1020
Aircraft Owner City PRESCOTT
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 86301
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name VERNON PETERSON
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address ROUTE 1, BOX 20
Operator City VALLEY VIEW
Operator State TX
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 1624
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --