Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rupert Strip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rupert, Georgia 31081
Sunday, June 24, 2001 16:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident pilot preflighted the airplane which had about 1/4 to 1/3 fuel capacity. The wind was from the west-northwest at 5-10 miles per hour (mph); the flight towing a glider departed from the westerly oriented runway. The glider pilot stated that after liftoff the tow pilot remained in ground effect and the tow plane drifted over to the left side of the runway and hit the top of a small scrub oak that was about 15ft high and 1000 ft before the end of the runway. The glider pilot also stated that the accident pilot set up a normal climb attitude and about 70 mph to about 250 feet above ground level (agl). At that point, "...we encountered heavy sink/downdraft, with some turbulence which suddenly dropped us about 100ft. Noting this condition, I released the tow rope from the glider and terminated the tow. At this time, I heard the Bucker's engine running and it sounded strong. I then turned right and [the towplane] continued to drift and turn slightly left which is also where a line of about 100ft pine trees are located about 1000ft from the end of the runway." The glider pilot also stated, "About 10 seconds later, I saw that [the towplane] was still in a climb attitude and in sink. I saw him appear to release the rope from the Bucker and then clip the top of the tallest tree. He then seemed to snap roll to the left and into the ground." Examination of the airplane at the accident site by an FAA inspector revealed no evidence of flight control preimpact failure or malfunction. The airplane was recovered and a replacement propeller was installed for the engine run. The engine started and was operated to an estimated 1,000 rpm but could not accelerate; impact damage was noted to the servo fuel injector (servo). Bench testing of the servo revealed no discrepancies related to fuel flow.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/24/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1605 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rupert |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31081 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Rupert Strip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 78 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 354 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11563 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 24 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1648 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2002 10:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | College Park, GA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4842 |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA175 |
| 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 | Bucker-Jungmann |
| Aircraft Model | Aero Z-131 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 178 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 1190 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Air South, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Road, Suite 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Rupert |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1605 |
| 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 | Mar 22 2002 3:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |