Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Lucie County Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Pierce, Florida 34946
Wednesday, December 20, 2000 10:25 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that when he turned off the electric fuel boost pump after takeoff, the engine lost about 300 rpm. He turned the electric pump back on and the engine regained power. While turning on final approach for landing he lined up with the wrong runway and made a go-around. During the go-around, the engine popped and went to idle power. He was unable to return to the airport and landed in a field. During landing rollout, the nose landing gear collapsed and he hit his head when the shoulder harness did not lock. The airplane received minor damage in the accident and the pilot was hospitalized for a head injury. Postcrash running of the engine showed no evidence of failure or malfunction with the electric boost pump on or off. The pilot's shoulder harness was found stowed after the accident and it locked normally during pull tests. The pilot was under a court order dated June 4, 1998, to not operate aircraft, and was scheduled to surrender to authorities in the State of Connecticut to begin serving a prison sentence on the day of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper approach for landing while making a landing following a reported momentary partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons and his decision to make a go-around from the approach resulting in a landing in a field and collapse of the nose landing gear following a reported total loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/20/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1025 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | FORT PIERCE |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34946 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | ST. LUCIE COUNTY INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FPR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FPR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 25 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 39 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 27 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10289 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Piper Aircraft |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 20 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9185P |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA048 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-201 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-201 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R7837032 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | 5342 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PAN AM INT'L FLIGHT TRAINING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4220 PAN AM BLVD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | FORT PIERCE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34946 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FPR |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1018 |
| 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 | Jul 16 2001 8:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 4756 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |