Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Peachtree City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Peachtree City, Georgia 30269
Wednesday, January 1, 2003 16:55 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight departed with full fuel tanks from the Waycross-Ware County Airport, en route to the Peachtree City Airport. About 1 hour into the flight the pilot noticed a slight rpm drop, he applied throttle to compensate for the rpm decrease. The pilot started the pre-descent procedures; he turned the auxiliary fuel pump on, applied carburetor heat, then reduced power, at this time the engine quit completely. The pilot repositioned the fuel selector, switched the auxiliary fuel pump off and on, turned carburetor heat on and off, all actions were unsuccessful in restoring engine power. The pilot established best glide airspeed, lowered full flaps, and while descending, the airplane contacted a raised sewer access. The airplane then impacted the ground and came to rest inverted. A witness reported observing black smoke trailing the airplane and heard the engine running rough. Examination of the airplane following recovery by an FAA inspector revealed the fuel tank vent lines were clear of obstructions. There was fuel found in the left wing and the right fuel tank was leaking fuel, the fuel boost pump operated electrically post accident. Fuel samples from the right wing and gascolator showed no fuel contamination. All spark plugs and inside ends of both exhaust pipes were found sooted. The carburetor heat system which consists of a 5 inches long by 2 inches in diameter pipe secured to the exhaust crossover pipe, a "Carb Heat Connector" which is secured to the filtered air box forward of the air filter, and a scat hose that connects the two. Additionally, a control in the cockpit activates an alternate air door located on the filtered air box forward of the carb heat muff inlet The carburetor heat was able to function post accident and the engine was run to idle power setting; damage precluded operation at a higher rpm setting. Bench testing of the carburetor by the manufacturer with FAA oversight revealed the carburetor was not within service limits, at comparable to idle power settings the fuel flow in terms of pounds-per-hour (pph) was 0.6 pph below service limits. At the remaining four test points the fuel flow in pph was greater than the established rich limits. At the last test point which equated to full throttle, the fuel flow was 18.5 pph above the established rich service limit. The pilot reported verbally that approximately 50 flight hours earlier, when he was taxiing to takeoff, the engine quit just like it did during the accident flight. The carburetor and engine driven fuel pump were replaced. The engine quit again in a similar fashion, and the auxiliary fuel pump and all fuel lines were replaced. Additionally, the fuel selector valve was disassembled and rebuilt. The overhauled carburetor had been operated 54.5 hours since installation at the time of the accident. The temperature and dew point at Peachtree city, two hours past the time of the accident, indicates serious carburetor icing at any power setting. Flight testing of a RV6A airplane equipped with the same carburetor heat system, same model engine, and same model carburetor as the accident airplane but with a temperature probe revealed that with the engine operating at 75 percent power and carburetor heat applied, the temperature rise was 1/2 degree Fahrenheit above the temperature with carburetor heat off. According to the general manager of Van's Aircraft, they offer 2 different types of carburetor heat systems, and they have not done any heat rise testing on any of the various carburetor heat systems that can be installed on RV type airplanes. With respect to carburetor heat muffs, a section of the builders manual states that each builder is responsible for evaluating his/her own installation based on the liklihood of carburetor ice in his/her intended operating environment.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to activate carburetor heat control during cruise flight after experiencing a loss of engine rpm, inadequate carburetor heat system by the builder, and the unsuitable terrain encountered by the pilot-in-command during the forced landing following the total loss of engine power. A factor in the accident was the weather conditions ( temperature and dew point) which were susceptible to carburetor icing during cruise flight and descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/1/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1655 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Peachtree City |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30269 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332104N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843350W |
| Event Location Airport | Peachtree City Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KFFC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.13 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 808 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFFC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 808 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| 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) | 15732 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1024 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | College Park, Georgia |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N559LJ |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA035 |
| 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 | Lonnie Johnson |
| Aircraft Model | RV6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25559 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 25 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 206.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 298.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Frank S. Eldridge, Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 801 Garrison Circle |
| Aircraft Owner City | Waycross |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 31503 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | KAYS |
| Departure City | Waycross |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1540 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KFFC |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 17 2004 11:48AM |
| 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 | -- |