Headland Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Headland, Alabama 36345
Tuesady, April 30, 2002 13:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, shortly after takeoff on runway 17, he retracted the landing gear, and noted that the airplane "did not continue to climb." He turned away from a populated area, and headed back towards the airport. He stated that the airplane "did not appear to be developing adequate power and was descending. The pilot elected to keep the landing gear up and land in a soft plowed field, about 500 yards southeast of the airport. Upon touchdown the airplane's left float separated, and the left wing impacted with the ground. After the accident a test run on the engine revealed that the engine was run to 2600 RPM, and no discrepancies were found.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a loss of engine power for undetermined reason resulting in damage to the airplane during the subsequent forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/30/2002
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1345
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Headland
Event State ALABAMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 36345
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 312153N
Event Location Longitude 0851834W
Event Location Airport Headland Muni
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 0J6
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.25
Degrees magnetic from airport 160
Airport Elevation 359
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1350 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID KDHN
Elevation of weather observation facility 401
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 18
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
Density Altitude (feet) 1975
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12615
NTSB Notification Source FAA SE Reg Com Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Apr 30 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1720
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 Birmingham FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3121P
NTSB Number MIA02LA092
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 Lake
Aircraft Model LA-4-200
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 983
Certified Max Gross Weight 2600
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 Nov 28 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 1529
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Glenn Cannon
Aircraft Owner Street Address 150 Gulf Shore Dr. #504
Aircraft Owner City Destin
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32541
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Robert K. Daugherty
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1105 Normandale Dr.
Operator City Dothan
Operator State AL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 36301
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 0J6
Departure City Headland
Departure State AL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1340
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2002 10:11AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 2848
Runway Width 162
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --