Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Diego Jimenez Torres Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fajardo, Puerto Rico 00738
Monday, September 1, 2003 11:30 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, after taking off, at an altitude of about 300 feet, the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot performed a 180-degree turn back to the runway, but due to the low altitude was unable to reach the runway. He elected to land in a field about 1/2 mile from the runway. The pilot explained it had been close to 3 weeks since the airplane had last been flown. He said he drained large quantities of water from both the left and right wing fuel tank sump ports. He fueled the airplane with a total of about 29 gallons of 100 LL aviation fuel and drained a total of a gallon of fuel from both wing tanks, with "no" indication of water in the fuel. The individual who recovered the airplane from the field stated when up righting the engine, a noticeable amount of water poured out of the carburetor. An Airframe and Power plant mechanic stated to the Federal Aviation Administration inspector that when the carburetor bowl drain plug was removed, only water came out of it, no fuel at all. At the time of the accident no water was utilized at the seen. Weather reports support that there was no rain in the area between the accident and the time the airplane was removed from the farm.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate aircraft preflight resulting in the airplane being operated with water contamination in the fuel system, and the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Fajardo |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00738 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 181828N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0653942W |
| Event Location Airport | Diego Jimenez Torres |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TJFA |
| 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 | 64 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TJSJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 25 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1808 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14641 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 1 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1235 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Juan FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8578U |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA176 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17252478 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 31 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 49 |
| Airframe Hours | 2247 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gilbert A. Gonzalez |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 2040 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ceiba |
| Aircraft Owner State | PR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00735 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | PR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | TJFA |
| Departure City | Fajardo |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1128 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 10 2003 8:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 8 |
| Runway Length | 3600 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |