Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Tammany Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Abita Springs, Louisiana 70420
Tuesady, December 14, 2004 11:32 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 1,483-hour private pilot and a passenger departed on a 308-nautical mile cross-country flight. Approximately 22 minutes after take off, radar data revealed the airplane was headed west at an assigned cruise altitude of 6,000 feet msl. Shortly after, the airplane began a shallow descent and turned northwest toward an uncontrolled airport that was not its original destination. When the airplane was abeam, and south of the airport, it made a 270-degree, descending left-hand turn before it proceeded on a northeast heading toward the airport. Subsequently, the airplane descended into heavily wooded terrain about 1.2-miles southwest of the airport and was destroyed by post-impact fire. The wind was reported from 350 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 19 knots. Examination of the airplane revealed the fuel selector valve was turned off and no mechanical deficiencies were noted with the engine. The pilot's son disclosed that his father had been having problems with water contamination in the fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Also causal was the pilot's improper in-flight emergency planning when he misjudged his available altitude and made a 360 degree turn away from the airport instead of proceeding directly to it, which resulted in him landing over a mile short of the runway in heavily wooded terrain. A factor was the prevailing high wind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1132 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Abita Springs |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70420 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 302640N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0895937W |
| Event Location Airport | St. Tammany Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L31 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 39 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 125 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ASD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 28 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.54 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18962 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 14 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1310 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4873C |
| NTSB Number | DFW05FA038 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | T210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21063654 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4016 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Feb 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2427.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EP/RG Investments LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 52830 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77052 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GPT |
| Departure City | Gulfport-Biloxi |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1105 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 00R |
| Destination City | Livington |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 11 2005 6:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |