Jesup Wayne County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jesup, Georgia 31598
Wednesday, October 23, 2002 21:28 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was equipped with two experimental Engine AIR Power Systems TSIVD-427, 500-horsepower, liquid-cooled, turbocharged, V8 engines. During previous flights, the right engine lost boost then overboosted intermittently, and attempted repairs were unsuccessful. The pilot elected to fly the airplane to its home base for further troubleshooting. During cruise flight, the pilot reported an engine was surging, declared an emergency, and received vectors toward the airport. The airplane collided into a field beside the airport runway and caught fire. The airplane had a total of 8 to 10 hours of flight time at the time of the accident. Records revealed that two days after the airplane's first test flight, the pilot flew the airplane from Melbourne, Florida, to an airport 336 nm miles away, then flew it to Canada to display it at a fly-in.The FAA operating limitations for the airplane restricted its operation to flight test only, which was proposed to consist of 100 flight hours, since the installation of the modified engines. No single-engine performance data was available for this airplane. Examination of the engines and accessories revealed extensive fire and impact damage. Continuity of the crankshaft, valves, rods, and pistons was established for the right engine by manually rotating the propeller reduction control unit.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of power in one engine and the loss of control for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/23/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2128
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Jesup
Event State GEORGIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 31598
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 313309N
Event Location Longitude 0815243W
Event Location Airport Jesup Wayne County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID JES
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.1
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 108
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2053 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 51
Weather Observation Facility ID SAV
Elevation of weather observation facility 50
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 49
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 2000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.19
Density Altitude (feet) 359
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KSAV 240053Z 03009KT 10SM OVC20 19/17 A3019
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15977
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communication Center
NTSB Notification Date Oct 23 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2230
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2004 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA Atlanta FSDO - 11

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N73CR
NTSB Number ATL03FA009
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beechcraft
Aircraft Model A60
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number P-222
Certified Max Gross Weight 6775
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Sep 13 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 11
Airframe Hours 5125
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Duke Aircraft Corporation
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2610 49th Place
Aircraft Owner City Des Moines
Aircraft Owner State IA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 50310
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name J. P. R. Comeault
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address RR 1, 263 Des Chenes Drive
Operator City Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
Operator State --
Operator Country CA
Operator Zip code P6A 5K6
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 MIE
Departure City Muncie
Departure State IN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1832
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MLB
Destination City Melbourne
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 8 2004 3:19PM
User who most recently changed record POWP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 28
Runway Length 4916
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --