Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pell City, Alabama 35128
Wednesday, July 16, 2003 19:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was in cruise flight when the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. An engine restart was unsuccessful and a forced landing was made to an open field which ran up slope. Examination of the airplane revealed the throttle cable had broken and the left main landing gear had separated. Further examination of the throttle cable by the NTSB Materials Laboratory revealed the cable had failed in fatigue.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the throttle cable due to fatigue resulting in a loss of engine power. Factor were uphill rough and uneven terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/16/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1945
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Pell City
Event State ALABAMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 35128
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 333350N
Event Location Longitude 0861450W
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 260
Weather Observation Facility ID BHM
Elevation of weather observation facility 644
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 24
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
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) 30.15
Density Altitude (feet) 2007
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) 15990
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communications Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 16 2003 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 Birmingham FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9110T
NTSB Number ATL03LA109
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 Keuthan
Aircraft Model Buccaneer II
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number B2B-KO63
Certified Max Gross Weight 490
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Mar 31 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 58
Airframe Hours 236
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Keuthan Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 910 Airport Road
Aircraft Owner City Merritt Island
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32951
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Charles B. Sapp
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 210 Paradise Point
Operator City Talladega
Operator State AL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 35160
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 PLR
Departure City Pell City
Departure State AL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1900
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 31 2004 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record POWP
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 --