Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palm Beach County Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lantana, Florida 33406
Thursday, May 18, 2006 8:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane's engine lost power about 100 feet above the ground during takeoff initial climb. When the engine ceased to operate, the pilot allowed the airspeed to decay, and the airplane stalled and descended to ground impact. Water contamination was found in the left wing fuel tank and in the carburetor. The fuel selector was in the left tank position at the time of the accident. The left fuel cap o-ring was severely dry rotted and cracked. The airplane had been parked outside during the preceding nine days, and there had been a significant amount of rainfall. The airplane had been fueled the day before the accident; however, no other aircraft that received fuel from the same fuel truck reported any problems with water contamination. The source of the water contamination was likely rain water that entered the left fuel tank through the deteriorated fuel cap o-ring. If the pilot had drained the airplane's fuel sumps during preflight inspection, he would likely have discovered the fuel contamination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine power during initial climb due to water contamination in the fuel. Contributing factors were the deteriorated fuel cap o-ring and the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/18/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 850 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lantana |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33406 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263535N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800506W |
| Event Location Airport | Palm Beach County Park |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LNA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 14 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23051 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Palm Beach County Rescue |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 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 | Feb 28 2008 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N12RH |
| NTSB Number | MIA06LA109 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 68-0078 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2678 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas J Sutton |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4090 Westview St |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lake Worth |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33463 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lake Worth |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33463 |
| 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 | KLNA |
| Departure City | Lantana |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MYEF |
| Destination City | Exuma Island |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | BF |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2008 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 3421 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |