Franklinton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Franklinton, Louisiana 70438
Saturday, September 23, 1989 15:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DURING FLIGHT, THE ENGINE STARTED RUNNING ROUGH. THE PILOT DECLARED AN EMERGENCY & WAS VECTORED TO AN AIRPORT. JUST BEFORE TURNING BASE, THE ENGINE LOST POWER. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES AND CRASHED. NO REASON WAS FOUND FOR THE POWER LOSS.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS. TREES IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA WERE A RELATED FACTOR.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/23/1989
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City FRANKLINTON
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70438
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 FRANKLINTON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2R7
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 175
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1550 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 175
Weather Observation Facility ID NEW
Elevation of weather observation facility 9
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 48
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2300
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 50
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) --
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 FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1346
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 23 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1550
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 39533
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 N2AT
NTSB Number FTW89DRD16
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name SOURS/MIDGET MUSTANG
Aircraft Model SM-1
Aircraft Series Identifier SM-1
Aircraft Serial Number SM-001
Certified Max Gross Weight 900
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection Aug 14 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 609
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CLIFFORD T GRABOWSKI
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2401 HOUMA BLVD APT 229
Aircraft Owner City METARIC
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 70002
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name CLIFFORD GRABOWSKI
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2401 HOUMA BLVD
Operator City MATAIRE
Operator State LA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 70002
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 No
Departure Airport Code NEW
Departure City NEW ORLEANS
Departure State LA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1500
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code GTR
Destination City COLUMBUS
Destination State MS
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 31
Runway Length 3000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --