Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Roy E. Ray Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Irvington, Alabama 36544
Sunday, September 29, 2002 16:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After landing following a 2 hour 55 minute flight the fuel tanks were filled; a preflight inspection of the aircraft using a checklist revealed no contaminants when checking the fuel. After an engine run up using a checklist,10-degrees of flaps was selected and he departed. After a positive rate of climb, the gear selector switch was placed in the up position; however, the gear remained down due to the automatic gear extender system installed on the aircraft which lowers the gear automatically when the airspeed is below a certain value. Around 100 feet the engine suddenly quit. The pilot descended to maintain airspeed, and collided with trees. The next thing he remembers is being in the airplane on the ground. According to the FAA inspector who examined the accident site, the airplane impacted a dirt road with the landing gear extended and the left wing of the airplane separated after colliding with a light pole 6-7 feet above ground level. The airplane spun around and came to rest upright. Examination of engine revealed crankshaft, camshaft, and valve train continuity; compression and suction were noted in all cylinders. The magnetos sparked to all plugs of all cylinders, and the engine driven fuel pump, and vacuum pump were operational. The servo fuel injector flowed 45.8 pph at full throttle; the service limits are 82.9 to 94.0 pph. Disassembly revealed white solid contaminates, water droplets, and rust inside of the fuel regulator, fuel diaphragm, mixture control unit, and the fuel strainer and housing. The fuel diaphragm stem was checked, and was 0.008 inch full deflection. The servo injector had the original Lycoming lead seal, and was manufactured, April 28, 1969. A review of the engine maintenance records show that the servo injector was not overhauled since the date of manufacture. Service Bulletin PRS-97 released by Precision Airmotive Corp. on Nov. 11, 1991, establishes overhaul and calibration of the fuel injection system to be done every 10 years; compliance not required by FAA.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to internal contamination (rust and water) of the servo fuel injector resulting in it flowing approximately half of the required fuel flow at full throttle. A contributing factor was the unsuitable terrain encountered by the pilot during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Irvington |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36544 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 302736N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0881245W |
| Event Location Airport | ROY E. RAY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 5R7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 296 |
| Airport Elevation | 80 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2153 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 32 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBFM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 26 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| 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) | 30.01 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12861 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 29 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1825 |
| 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 | Birmingham, Alabama |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2963R |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA175 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-35346 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 20 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15.59 |
| Airframe Hours | 3412.79 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John T. Gwin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3255 Stein Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mobile |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36608 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 5R7 |
| Departure City | Bayou La Batre |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1620 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KBFM |
| Destination City | Mobile |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 23 2002 9:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |