Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lumpkin County-Wimpys Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dahlonega, Georgia 30533
Monday, June 11, 2001 15:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that while taking off on runway 15, about half way down the runway, he felt a loss of engine power and noticed he was not high enough to clear the high terrain in front of him. He decided to aim for a pasture to the right of the departure end of the runway. This is the last thing he recalls. The next thing he remembers is seeing the airplane wrecked in the airport building. After the accident the engine was placed on a test stand under the supervision of NTSB personnel. The engine was started and ran for a few seconds while producing white smoke, and then quit. The engine was again started and produced about 1,500 rpm. The engine operated roughly. The engine was shutdown and the No. 3 cylinder was found to not have an elevated temperature. The No. 3 cylinder was removed and the exhaust valve head was missing. The piston had impact damage from the exhaust valve head and a piece of the exhaust valve head was found in the cylinder. No part number was visible on the broken valve remnants. Metallurgical examination of the remnants of the No. 3 exhaust valve was performed by the NTSB Materials Laboratory, Washington, D.C. The fracture surface on the stem portion of the valve was on a flat transverse plane, with large scale ratchet marks suggestive of fatigue cracking. In addition, three fatigue regions with clear crack arrest positions were noted on the fracture adjacent to the exterior surface of the stem. The exterior surface of the stem in the vicinity of the fracture surface revealed a heavy oxide or deposit scale. Logbook records show the engine was last overhauled at aircraft and engine total time 5,880 hours. At the time of the accident the aircraft and engine total time were 6,646 hours. Logbook records prior to December 12, 1995, had been lost. The engine overhaul had occurred prior to that date. No records concerning the engine overhaul were present in the remaining aircraft records.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the No. 3 exhaust valve due to fatigue cracking for undetermined reasons, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power and an in-flight collision with a building during an attempted forced landing to unsuitable terrain..
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/11/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1520 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Dahlonega |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30533 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343446N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0840114W |
| Event Location Airport | Lumpkin County-Wimpys |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 9A0 |
| 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 | 1311 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AHN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 808 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3000 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 10953 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL. Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 11 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1719 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2001 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43466 |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA159 |
| 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-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7425370 |
| 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 | May 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 6646 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wilson Air Services, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5840 Airport Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Andrews |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28901 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 9A0 |
| Departure City | Dahlonega |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2001 9:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PREJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 3035 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |