Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Samuels Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bardstown, Kentucky 40004
Wednesday, July 17, 2002 9:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported he performed a thorough preflight inspection of the airplane and after a 1 hour flight, he landed to refuel. He added 30.5 gallons of aviation gasoline to the airplane and performed another preflight inspection, which included draining fuel from the "belly strainer." The pilot performed an engine run-up and a normal takeoff; however, shortly after takeoff, when the airplane was about 300 to 400 feet above the ground, the engine began to lose power. The pilot performed a forced landing to a field. However, the airplane impacted the ground left wing down and bounced. The engine separated from the fuselage and the airplane came to rest on the main landing gear. Examination of the engine revealed debris in the oil screen, which consisted of large carbon and rust deposits. The spark plugs all showed signs of fouling due to carbon deposits and three of the outboard spark plug electrode gaps were "closed" due to debris lodged in the head of the plugs. There was a small amount of fuel in the carburetor. The fuel was "milky white" in color. The belly drain was sumped, and the fuel was found to contain "large" amounts of water. It was also noted that the wing tank drains were wired closed and could not be sampled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in fuel contamination and subsequent loss of engine power. A factor in this accident was that the wing tank fuel drains were wire closed and could not be used.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 940 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bardstown |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 40004 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 374851N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0852959W |
| Event Location Airport | Samuels Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BRY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.75 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 20 |
| Airport Elevation | 669 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 950 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 342 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LOU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 546 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12868 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SRCC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 17 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 940 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2003 4:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Louisville, KY |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N64567 |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA140 |
| 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 | Boeing Stearman |
| Aircraft Model | A75N1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-3385 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2700 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Great Cloud Designs Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Luthersville |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30251 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | BRY |
| Departure City | Bardstown |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1A0 |
| Destination City | Chattanooga |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2002 3:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 02 |
| Runway Length | 5003 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |