Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sevierville, Tennessee 37862
Saturday, April 6, 2002 9:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before departure the pilot was observed to change the two spark plugs, and the airplane was fueled. During the takeoff, a witness heard the engine missing. Witnesses reported that when the airplane passed the departure end of the runway, the airplane was observed to bank to the left, pitch down, and impacted the ground in a wooded area. A postcrash fire was extinguished by a fire department. The crash site was located .10 nautical mile and 242 degrees from the departure end of the runway used for takeoff. Examination of the flight controls revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. Examination of the engine by the FAA-IIC revealed that, "...both plugs were barely finger tight. I did not need a wrench to remove one of the plugs." No other discrepancies related to the engine were noted. The pilot's flight time in the airplane was not determined. Additionally, there were no maintenance records for the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to maintain airspeed while turning to reverse direction resulting in an inadvertent stall, uncontrolled descent, and in-flight collision with trees. A factor in the accident was the failure of the pilot to tighten the spark plugs resulting in the partial loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/6/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Sevierville |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37862 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355130N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0833222W |
| Event Location Airport | Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KGKT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.621 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 268 |
| Airport Elevation | 1014 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 940 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 88 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGKT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1014 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| 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) | 30.34 |
| 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) | 12614 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 6 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1105 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Nashville, TN |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N10GZ |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA080 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Gary L. Zeigler |
| Aircraft Model | Monnett Moni |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 00023 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gary L. Zeigler |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5566 Denois Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Columbus |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 47201 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Phillip A. Walter |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 18744 State Road |
| Operator City | Van Wert |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 45891 |
| 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 | KGKT |
| Departure City | Sevierville |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 949 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Unknown |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2002 10:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 5506 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |