Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South St. Paul Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South St. Paul, Minnesota 55075
Sunday, March 31, 2002 10:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a river after it experienced a complete loss of engine power after an engine fire in cruise flight. The pilot reported the preflight and takeoff were normal. He leveled off about 1,100 feet agl in order to stay below Class B airspace. He activated the standby vacuum pump and noted that it was operating properly. About 1-2 seconds after activating the vacuum pump, the alternator annunciator light came on. The two passengers smelled something burning about 2 seconds after the alternator annunciator light came on. The pilot reported that about 2 seconds later the engine lost power abruptly, without any roughness or surging. He decided to make a forced landing to the river. The examination of the engine compartment revealed an area of heat and fire damage near the top of the engine. Bare wires on the P-leads were found in the area of the heat damage. When the magnetos were checked, it was observed that the P-leads were grounded and no electrical current was getting to the magnetos. Further examination of the engine revealed that a B-nut fuel line connector on the fuel line that came from the engine driven fuel pump through the engine baffling was loose. The loose fuel connector was adjacent to the burned area where the P-leads were burned through. The engine logbook indicated that prior to the accident flight, the oil and oil filter had been changed. The standby vacuum pump was also replaced. The fuel line that was found with the loose B-nut was located directly above the standby vacuum pump.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to an electrical short of the P-lead, and loose fuel line connection as a result of improper maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/31/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1005 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | South St. Paul |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55075 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | South St. Paul |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SGS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 780 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 780 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -795 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13298 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 31 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1151 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9103Q |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA099 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-310P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4608027 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4200 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 7 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 2872 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Warren Mack |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2539 Thomas Ave. S. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Minneapolis |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55405 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SGS |
| Departure City | South St. Paul |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SLB |
| Destination City | Storm Lake |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2003 10:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |