Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ava, New York 13303
Sunday, May 4, 2003 10:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane experienced a power loss on initial climb at an altitude of about 150 feet AGL. He was unable to reach a suitable landing area and landed in the tops of trees. The investigation revealed the fuel selector valve had recently been replaced. To accomplishment the maintenance, the fuel in the tanks were drained into 5 gallon cans, and then after the replacement, it was poured back into the wing tanks. The gascolator was found filled with contamination. Only trace fuel was found forward of he gascolator, and in the carburetor. The pilot reported he had pre-flighted the airplane prior to departure. In addition, the pilot's medical had expired several years ago, and he had not completed a flight review in several years.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight which did not detect the contamination in the fuel, and subsequent power loss due to contaminated fuel while operating over unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/4/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ava |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13303 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 431948N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0752324W |
| Event Location Airport | Private Airfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 220 |
| Airport Elevation | 1100 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 192 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UCA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 743 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 836 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14762 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Albany, FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 7 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1450 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2004 4:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albany, New York |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9834P |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA098 |
| 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-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-7600034 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 20 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 893.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dale E. Scott |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ava |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 13303 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Ava |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| 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 | Oct 31 2003 11:22AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |