Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morrisville, North Carolina 27560
Sunday, May 16, 2004 21:16 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight departed Daytona Beach International Airport enroute to Wilmington International Airport, where the passengers were to deplane. The pilot performed a visual inspection of the airplane, checked the fuel tanks and verifyed that they were full before taking off from Daytona Beach. Two passengers stated that the flight from Daytona Beach to Wilmington was approximately two and a half hours long. Upon arriving in Wilmington, the pilot did not shut down the engine, but deplaned the passengers and continued the flight to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The pilot established radio contact with the FAA Raleigh Approach Control and was provided flight following service for the flight. When the flight arrived within range of the airport, the pilot was given radar vectors to the final approach course for runway 23L. A review of radar data showed that when the airplane was 1.37 miles from the runway, the airplane was about 800 feet mean sea level. At the same time the pilot reported to the controller that he had a problem. Seconds later, the pilot reported that he had lost his engine. This was the last radio transmission from the pilot. Examination of the accident site revealed that two broken power lines located along the wreckage path. The main wreckage was located inverted in a creek 4,800 feet on an extended centerline on the approach side for runway 23L. Postcrash examination and testing of the aircraft structure, flight controls, systems, engine, and propeller showed no evidence of precrash anomalies. The fuel lines were found severed at the wing roots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the engine for undetermined reasons resulting in the aircraft colliding with powerlines and the ground during the subsequent forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/16/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2116 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Morrisville |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27560 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355239N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0874714W |
| Event Location Airport | Raleigh-Durham International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RDU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.75 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | 437 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 115 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 437 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 21391 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 16 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4550S |
| NTSB Number | ATL04FA118 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E735 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 240 |
| Airframe Hours | 1161 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FCA Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5805 Departure Drive Suite A |
| Aircraft Owner City | Raleigh |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27616 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert G. Snyder |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ILM |
| Departure City | Wilmington |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RDU |
| Destination City | Raleigh-Durham |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 6 2007 1:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23L |
| Runway Length | 7500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |