Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Birmingham International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Birmingham, Alabama 35242
Tuesady, December 2, 2003 19:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was uneventful until the approach to land at the destination airport. When the pilot reduced engine power for the approach, the engine lost power and the throttle would not respond. The pilot informed the control tower that he had a loss of power and proceeded to set up for an emergency landing. The airplane clipped a tree top and went through a power line before touching down on the ground. The airplane landed hard, the nose gear collapsed, and the left wing collided with a light pole. Examination of the airplane found the left and right wings had spar and wing skin damage. Examination of the engine found the throttle cable separated from the throttle body arm. The throttle cable attaching bolt was still attached to the throttle body arm, the nut was missing and the bolt was not drilled for a cotter key. Further review disclosed that Airworthiness Directive 86-24-07 and Cessna Information Letter SE79-6 had not been complied with when the engine assembly was recently installed during the annual inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the throttle/power lever cable becoming disconnected in-flight, as a result of maintenance personnel failure to comply with Airworthiness Directive (AD) 86-24-07 and Cessna information letter SE79-6.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1950 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Birmingham |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35242 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333308N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0864521W |
| Event Location Airport | Birmingham International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BHM |
| 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 | 18 |
| Airport Elevation | 644 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BHM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 644 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.37 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -687 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18073 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3056Q |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA044 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182-K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18258056 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 31.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 4264.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Cowarts Construction Co. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 59 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salem |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72576 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James R. Cowart |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 248 Circle High Dr. |
| Operator City | Salem |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 72576 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 7M9 |
| Departure City | Salem |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BHM |
| Destination City | Birmingham |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2005 10:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 7100 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |