Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Goldwaite, Texas 76844
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 16:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Following a loss of engine power in the single engine airplane, the private pilot executed a forced landing while on approach to a private grass airstrip. While entering the downwind leg, the pilot reduced power and the engine began to run "rough." After carburetor heat was applied, the pilot advanced the mixture, and throttle with no effect. The engine began to develop power momentarily, and then, on base leg, the engine power became intermittent. Realizing the he may not make the landing area, the pilot selected an open field adjacent to the runway; however, he observed obstacles in the field and turned back toward the grass strip. Subsequently, the airplane impacted small trees and brush, approximately 300 feet short of the intended landing strip, and came to rest within 10 feet from the initial impact point. A post-crash fire ensued. After the accident, the spark plugs were removed and dark, black carbon coating was observed on the tips of their respective electrodes and the sides of the electrode posts were "grayish" in color. The #4 cylinder exhaust flange was partially separated from the cylinder flange, and one nut was missing. There was visual evidence of heat concentration and thermal distress around the exhaust flange, and there was smoke residue observed on the lower fuselage. The engine was mounted on a test stand, started, and was operated for five minutes, up to 1,700 RPM. With full throttle applied, the engine RPM did not exceed 1,700 RPM. During the test run, fuel was observed to be leaking from the mating surface between the carburetor bowl and carburetor upper plate. The engine was then shut down, and the 4 bolts that retain the carburetor bowl to the upper plate were tightened down approximately 1/4 turn each in an attempt to further compress the gasket and abate the fuel leak. While tightening the bolts, it was noted that the carburetor was sooted and it appeared that the gasket had some degree of thermal distress. The engine was then started again. Magneto checks were performed at 1,800 RPM with 75-100 RPM drops, and then again at 2,100 RPM with 75 RPM drops. The engine operated for approximately 10 minutes at 2,100 RPM. According to carburetor icing probability charts, and the available temperature and dew point at the time of the accident, the airplane could have been susceptible to moderate or severe carburetor icing at glide power settings.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/17/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Goldwaite |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76844 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 314722N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0985714W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| 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) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15701 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43656 |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA094 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-151 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7415552 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | Apr 10 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 2560.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Roberto Carlos Antonetti |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5927 Volunteer |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rockwall |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75032 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Gary Gunn |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2412 Spoonhill CT |
| Operator City | Mesquite |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75181 |
| 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 | F46 |
| Departure City | Rockwall |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1410 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Goldwaite |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2004 6:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |