Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hicks Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Worth, Texas 76179
Friday, January 9, 2004 15:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to departure, the airplane's fuel tanks were topped-off with 72 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. On the take-off roll, when the airplane's airspeed increased to 85 miles per hour (mph) (red-line on the airspeed indicator), the pilot rotated, and the airplane began to climb. When the airspeed increased to 95 mph (blue-line on the airspeed indicator), the airplane suddenly yawed to the right and the airspeed decreased. The pilot said it, "felt like my right engine stopped working." In 3 to 4 seconds, the airplane was over a row of hangars. The pilot lowered the nose of the airplane in an attempt to gain airspeed. But, there was insufficient altitude to clear the hangars and subsequently the airplane collided with one of them, then impacted two parked aircraft. Examination of the right engine revealed that the mixture control cable was disengaged from the carburetor mixture control arm and the cotter pin used to secure the tension nut on the mixture cable was not installed. The mixture control swivel, stud, and a segment of the mixture control cable were examined at the NTSB's Material's Laboratory, Washington DC. According to a Safety Board metallurgist, examination of some of the components indicated wear damage. But, the mixture control cable did not exhibit any longitudinal gouge marks or wear damage that would have been consistent with it being separated during the accident sequence. In addition, the engine was test-run and it operated at various power settings up to 1,500 RPM. The engine ran continuously and without hesitation for approximately 10 minutes. The propeller was actuated and operated normally. Both magnetos were checked and no anomalies were noted. The engine driven fuel pump produced suction and exhaust, and oil was noted draining from the forward crankshaft area. The pilot reported a total of 377 flight hours, of which, 41 hours were in twin-engine aircraft. He also reported a total of 10 hours in the same make and model airplane. A weight and balance computation was made using the airplane's original factory weight and balance. Based on the calculations, the airplane was within weight and balance limits.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control and the partial loss of engine power as a result of an improperly installed mixture control linkage.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Fort Worth |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76179 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325552N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0972442W |
| Event Location Airport | Hicks Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T67 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 855 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 355 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AFW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 770 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| 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) | 30.37 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16070 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southwest Region Office |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 9 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2030 |
| 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 | Fort Worth, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3289P |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA059 |
| 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-23-160 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23-1239 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 14 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 52.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 7057.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Anythony W. Hodge |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 122 Aviator Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Worth |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76179 |
| 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 | T67 |
| Departure City | Fort Worth |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Takeoff - roll/run |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2004 2:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3740 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |