Spirit Of St Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chesterfield, Missouri 63017
Monday, August 29, 1983 5:51 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PLT LANDED A LAWRENCEBURG, TN, ON THE EVENING OF 8/28/83. THUNDERSTORMS WERE REPORTED IN THE AREA AT THAT TIME. AT LAWRENCEBURG, FUEL WAS AVAILABLE DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS. AT 0203 THE NEXT MORNING, THE PLT CALLED THE MUSCLE SHOALS FSS & OBTAINED A WX BRIEFING & FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN. HE DEPARTED LAWRENCEBURG AT ABOUT 0250. DURING ARRIVAL TO LAND AT THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS ARPT, HE WAS ADVISE THAT THE WX WAS: SKY PARTIALLY OBSCURED, 1/8 MI VISIBILITY WITH FOG & HAZE, WIND CALM. ALSO, HE WAS ADVISED THAT THE OUTER MARKER LOCATOR WAS OUT OF SERVICE. THE PLT FLEW AN ILS APCH, BUT MADE A MISSED APCH. HE STARTED TO DIVERT TO WEISS ARPT (APRX 12 MI AWAY), BUT THE ENG BEGAN LOSING POWER FROM LOW FUEL. VECTORS WERE PROVIDED BACK TO THE SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS ARPT & THE PLT TRIED TO LAND AGAIN. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ENG QUIT RUNNING & THE ACFT IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A NOSE DOWN, RIGHT WING LOW ATTITUDE. NO FUEL WAS FOUND IN THE WING TANKS OR ENG FUEL LINES. THE PLT WAS DUE TO BE AT WORK AT 0600 & HIS TRANSPORTATION WAS AT SPIRIT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/29/1983
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 551
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CHESTERFIELD
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63017
Event Date Year 1983
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
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 461
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 504 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SUS
Elevation of weather observation facility 461
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Partial Obscuration
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 3273
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 23760
Date of most recent change to record Dec 18 2002 11:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\GIUV
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7993C
NTSB Number MKC83FA205
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-24-151
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-24-151
Aircraft Serial Number 287615070
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 Jul 18 1983 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 2942
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ALPHA AVIATION LTD
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1317 FAIRLANE
Aircraft Owner City ST CHARLES
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63301
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name PLANE SHACK
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 18216 EDISON
Operator City CHESTERFIELD
Operator State MO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 63017
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 2M2
Departure City LAWRENCEBURG
Departure State TN
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SUS
Destination City CHESTERFIELD
Destination State MO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 26 2001 8:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 7
Runway Length 6008
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --