Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Horace Williams Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514
Thursday, April 19, 2001 17:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the flight instructor, all pretakeoff checks were conducted by the instrument student, and his observation was that all preflight walk-around, radio, navigational, and engine checks were normal. Engine operation was normal, even characterized as "smooth" for initial power application and rotation, however, at about 200 to 300 feet agl, while crossing the departure end of the runway, the engine "burped" and regained power. About the time both pilots decided to return for a landing, the engine quit completely. The instructor took control of the aircraft, and they completed the emergency checklist for engine failure on takeoff, including switching fuel selector to the other, (left) tank, but power was not regained and a landing in the trees was unavoidable. Both pilots are adamant about the fuel selector being in the right tank detent at the start of the takeoff roll. Enough fuel spillage existed at the wreckage site that the Chapel Hill Fire Department was called, therefore fuel exhaustion was not considered by the FAA inspectors. Atmospheric conditions were not conducive to formation of carburetor ice by reference to icing probability charts. Subsequent engine run at an engine repair station with FAA oversight, after making adjustments for minor impact damage, revealed a satisfactorily running engine from idle to takeoff power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons during takeoff, resulting in an inflight collision with trees during the subsequent emergency landing. A factor in the accident was the lack of suitable terrain to conduct an emergency landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/19/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chapel Hill |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27514 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Horace Williams |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IGX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 512 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IGX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 512 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.25 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10756 |
| NTSB Notification Source | WLFL News Desk |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 19 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2010 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2001 9:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N118AW |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA125 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7916070 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2440 |
| 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 | Mar 23 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 6731.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Chapel Hill Flying Club |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 191 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chapel Hill |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27514 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IGX |
| Departure City | Chapel Hill |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TDF |
| Destination City | Person County |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2001 3:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PREJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4005 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |