Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Vince's Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Placid, Florida 33852
Thursday, January 17, 2002 7:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight departed VFR and just as the aircraft became airborne, the engine lost power. The pilot lost directional control, and crashed into an adjacent orange grove off the left side of the runway abeam a point about 3/4 way down the 3,000 foot runway. The aircraft received substantial damage and the pilot sustained minor injuries. Postcrash examination of the aircraft revealed the right wing contained no fuel and was the fuel source selected on the fuel selector. The left wing was nearly full. A postcrash examination of the engine's fuel injection distribution block revealed no fuel. Postcrash engine run revealed a fully operational engine. The pilot performed a visual check of fuel aboard the evening prior to his early morning departure, and noted 26 gallons of fuel in the right wing tank and 32 gallons of fuel in the left wing tank. He did not perform a visual check of fuel as part of his preflight walk around inspection the morning of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to perform a proper preflight inspection and his improper fuel tank selection for takeoff, resulting in a loss of engine power on takeoff due to fuel starvation, and the pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft resulting in an uncontrollable descent and collision with orange trees and terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Lake Placid |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33852 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Vince's Airstrip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FA60 |
| 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 | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | 115 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 753 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FMY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 47 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11570 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC-Atlanta |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 17 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 857 |
| 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 | Orlando |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N201XL |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA050 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-0497 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2885 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 16 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 5000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Francis J. Nemmers |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1009 13th St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Onawa |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 51040 |
| 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 | FA60 |
| Departure City | Lake Placid |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MGM |
| Destination City | Montgomery |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 29 2002 12:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 270 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |