Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Saint Marys, Georgia 31558
Wednesday, October 1, 2003 18:03 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to witnesses in the area, the airplane had been circling when they heard the engine sputter. The airplane descended nose down behind a stand of trees and they heard a "boom". Several witnesses in the area telephoned the 911-operator and reported the accident. Examination of the wreckage on-scene found the airplane in a nose down attitude. Examination of the engine found one of the two sparkplugs out of its cylinder hanging by the sparkplug wire. During a telephone interview with the brother of the pilot he stated that about 15 to 20 hours prior to the accident they had done some maintenance on the engine including changing the spark plugs. He further stated that he believes that the spark plugs were not tightened adequately which allowed one to "blow out causing the loss of engine power".
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to improper maintenance and the pilot's failure to maintian airspeed during the attempted forced landing that resulted in a stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/1/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1803 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Saint Marys |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31558 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 304528N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0813344W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 130 |
| Airport Elevation | 24 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 43 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SSI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 844 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17866 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1910 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1928J |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA001 |
| 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 | Johnson Walter A |
| Aircraft Model | Hornet |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0043 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1045 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 12 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 47 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Glen & Rock Readdick |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 70 Mush Bluff Trail |
| Aircraft Owner City | Saint Mary's |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27407 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Glen M. Readdick |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 450 Escott Road |
| Operator City | Kingsland |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 31540 |
| 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 | PVT |
| Departure City | Kingsland |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1803 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Kingsland |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 2 2005 9:17AM |
| 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 | -- |