Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936
Sunday, September 12, 2004 14:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot completed banner tow operations and made a left climbing turn. During the climb the airplane lost engine power. The pilot was unsuccessful in restoring the engine power. The pilot maneuvered the airplane to the right towards the approach end of runway 27. The airplane, on a 120-degree magnetic heading, landed across the runway surface, rolled into the grass and collided with a fence. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident. Examination of the airplane revealed the wings detached, the main landing gear collapsed and damage to the engine and propeller. The examination further showed that the fuel tanks were breached but more than 12 gallons of fuel was recovered from the left tank. The examination of the engine failed to disclose anomalies. The pilot did not report using carburetor heat during the flight. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were wind 360-degrees at 8 knots, visibility 10 miles, temperature 31-degrees Celsius and dewpoint 26-degrees Celsius. The review of the icing probability curves disclose conditions favorable for the formation of carburetor ice.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to apply carburetor heat which resulted in carburetor ice and the subsequent loss of engine power. A factor was weather conditions favorable for carburetor ice.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/12/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Juan |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00936 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 182724N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0660553W |
| Event Location Airport | Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TJIG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TJSJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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) | 17675 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 16 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Juan FSDO-21 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5546Z |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA183 |
| 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-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-7848 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aerial Sign of Puerto Rico |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1551 Calle De Alda Ste 101 |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Juan |
| Aircraft Owner State | PR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00926 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TJIG |
| Departure City | San Juan |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TJIG |
| Destination City | San Juan |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 4 2005 12:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |