Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Williams Port Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Easley, South Carolina 29640
Saturday, March 18, 2006 15:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, following takeoff, he made a left standard pattern and turned to the north and climbed to about 3,000 feet. Upon reaching altitude, he leveled off and retarded the throttle to cruise power and turned off the fuel pump. At that time, the engine began running rough like a "magneto failure". He immediately turned the fuel pump back on, made a left standard turn back toward the runway. The engine continued to lose power and he could get no response from the throttle. He tried to glide to the runway, but then realized he was going to be short. He elected to land in a road intersection. He saw two sets of power wires in his path and went over the first set and had to go under the second set. Unable to regain altitude, he impacted the ground thirty yards short of the road and slid through the intersection. Damage consisted of the left wing, left main landing gear, nose gear, engine mount, firewall, and tearing of the bottom right wing lower skin. Examination of the engine by the FAA found fuel in the gascolator and carburetor bowl with a small amount of water in both. The throttle cable was attached and functioning. There were no obstructions observed in the intake manifold. The magnetos, spark plugs and compression were all within normal limits, and valve and valve train continuity was established through to the accessory section. The engine was not run due to the collapsed nose gear. The FAA further stated that all systems inspected appeared normal and that he suspected an intermittent fuel supply problem.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons which resulted in a forced landing and subsequent in-flight collision with non-suitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/18/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Easley |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29640 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822100W |
| Event Location Airport | Williams Port |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SC86 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1050 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1554 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GMU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1048 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20067 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2006 10:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2133T |
| NTSB Number | ATL06LA053 |
| 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 | PA28-180F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7105 158 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 6840.36 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard C. Swillen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 110 Taxiway Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Easley |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29640 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SC86 |
| Departure City | Easley |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SC86 |
| Destination City | Easley |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2006 1:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |