Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Laurens, South Carolina 29360
Sunday, December 15, 2002 11:14 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he reached an altitude of 7,000 feet and leveled the airplane, when all of a sudden he felt a slight bump, and the engine immediately lost all power. He performed emergency procedures, but the engine did not regain power. While performing emergency procedures, he said he noticed fuel streaming from the area of the cowling, aft toward the windshield, so he committed himself to making a forced landing. The pilot executed a forced landing in an area of low pine trees and the airplane incurred substantial damage. The FAA inspector stated that postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the stainless steel fuel line at the front top side of the engine had separated from the fuel flow transmitter, consistent with the pilot's report of the loss of engine power, and fuel streaming out the top of the cowling. The inspector said that the fitting on the fuel flow transmitter showed signs of fretting, and had been cracked, allowing fuel pressure to cause the hose to back off the o-ringed nipple. In addition, the support standoff that attaches the fuel line to the top alternator mount so as to provide support for the fuel line, was not attached, and had been subject to vibration loads, causing the fitting to separate from the fuel flow transmitter. Maintenance records indicate that the alternator had been replaced by a maintenance facility 26.6 hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper maintenance and inspection of the airplane by other maintenance personnel, and their failure to install the fuel line support after maintenance had been completed, which resulted in the introduction of vibrational loads and the in-flight separation of the fuel line from the fuel flow transmitter, fuel starvation, the subsequent loss of engine power, an emergency descent/ landing, and damage to the airplane during the off airport landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/15/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1114 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Laurens |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29360 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 343042N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815700W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GSP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 964 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 800 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13417 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 15 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1210 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia, South Carolina |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N12MB |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA028 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E2371 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3650 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 12 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 2268 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Marie L. Barker |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 202 Spring Forest Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Simpsonville |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29681 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GSP |
| Departure City | Greer |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHS |
| Destination City | Laurens |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 21 2003 1:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |