Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Owasso, Oklahoma 74055
Monday, April 29, 2002 16:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After departure from a local airport the pilot flew around the area so his passenger could take aerial photographs of a baseball field. Subsequently, the engine lost power and he initiated a forced landing to a golf course. The airplane impacted uneven terrain and trees coming to rest upright and was consumed by a postimpact fire. According to a witness at the airport that the pilot departed from, the airplane was observed taking off with "cowl plugs" still installed on the airplane. An on scene inspection by an FAA inspector who responded to the accident site, located the engine cowl plugs prior to the green.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power as a result of the pilot's failure to remove the engine cowling plugs during the preflight inspection. A contributing factor was lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/29/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Owasso
Event State OKLAHOMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 74055
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 361600N
Event Location Longitude 0954700W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
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 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13978
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Apr 29 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1736
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6303W
NTSB Number FTW02LA133
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18-20346
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 Apr 30 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15
Airframe Hours 3404.5
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name James T. Zoller
Aircraft Owner Street Address 17410 E 78th St N
Aircraft Owner City Owasso
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 74055
Operator is an individual? Yes
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) Aerial Observation
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code OK16
Departure City Owasso
Departure State OK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1610
Departure Time Zone UTC
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 Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Jul 31 2003 5:11PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --