Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wilgrove Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wilgrove, North Carolina 28212
Friday, August 17, 2001 13:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the aircraft underwent an annual inspection on August 2, 2001. One of the tasks performed was the removal and replacement of the oil pump impellers, and the throttle linkage must be disconnected to expedite the job. Nine-tenths of a flight hour and seven takeoffs after returning the aircraft to service, the throttle would not respond to the pilot's input while in the landing pattern. The pilot executed a partial power go-around, and the aircraft crashed into trees at the end of the runway. Wreckage examination revealed the throttle cable disconnected at the carburetor, and no drilled bolt, castellated nut or locking cotter pin that forms the throttle cable-to-carburetor connection was found. The pilot mentioned that since the annual inspection, he detected a slight detent in the throttle motion at about 1,100 rpm engine speed, but failed to mention it to the mechanic. The FAA certified IA who signed off the work stated he was 99.9 per cent certain the attaching hardware was correctly installed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of maintenance personal to properly reconnect the throttle-cable-to carburetor attachment, resulting in a throttle cable disconnection while in the landing pattern, and collision with trees. A factor in the accident was the failure of the pilot to obtain maintenance assistance once unfamiliar throttle action was detected.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wilgrove |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28212 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Wilgrove Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8A6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 170 |
| Airport Elevation | 775 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1251 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 269 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 749 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| 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) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2780 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11159 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr-SE |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 17 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1357 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 4 2001 12:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Charlotte |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1453T |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA219 |
| 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 | 28-7225521 |
| 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 | Aug 2 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 5946 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William S. Simpson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7211 Lakeside Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Charlotte |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28215 |
| 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 | 8A6 |
| Departure City | Wilgrove |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1255 |
| 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 | Go-around (VFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 16 2001 10:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PREJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 2700 |
| Runway Width | 45 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |