Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greeneville Munipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greeneville, Tennessee 37745
Sunday, September 1, 2002 16:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported observing the pilot repeatedly trying to start the engine for several minutes, and stated that after at least 5 minutes the engine started but immediately ceased operating. The witnesses further stated that the pilot then exited the airplane, did something to the engine, and then got back in the airplane and it started. It would not idle normally and required a higher power setting in order for it to remain operating. A witness said that the pilot maintained a high power setting to keep the engine operating, and taxied for takeoff. The witness further stated that he was about 50 to 75 feet away and he could hear the engine "struggling" to operate. During initial climb after takeoff, other witnesses reported hearing the airplane and stated that they heard three loud noises, each sounding like a "backfire", and after the last backfire there was silence. One witness reported looking up and seeing the propeller not rotating, and all witnesses said they saw the airplane enter a turn. They said there was no engine noise, and the airplane glided while turning as if to return to land at the airport, but they last sight of it as it descended below the trees. After the airplane disappeared from sight below the trees the witnesses stated that there was a loud "boom" and they saw smoke billow up in the air. Examination of the accident scene showed that the airplane struck trees and descended, impacting the ground, about 0.5 mile from the center of the airport, north of the departure end of runway 05. The airplane had come apart as it impacted the trees and the ground and a postcrash fire had ensued. The pilot received fatal injuries. Examination of the airframe, the flight controls and the engine did not reveal any pre-accident anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons and the pilot's decision to continue flight with a known equipment deficiency. Also causal was the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in a stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1650 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Greeneville |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37745 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 361212N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824818W |
| Event Location Airport | Greeneville Munipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GCY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 30 |
| Airport Elevation | 1608 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1519 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4600 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3000 |
| 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) | 17455 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 1 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1705 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Nashville, Tennessee |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9807U |
| NTSB Number | MIA02FA162 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Gulfstream American |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA-5A-0207 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 4 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Clyda A. Cash & Vivian Cash |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 915 Clear Springs Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Limestone |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37681 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GCY |
| Departure City | Greeneville |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1649 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 6302 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |