Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crossville, Tennessee 38555
Saturday, May 20, 2006 11:58 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the engine lost power while on final approach for landing. An engine restart was unsuccessful and a forced landing was made straight ahead. The airplane collided with trees and the ground. Review of airplane log books revealed the airplane had flown for 1.1 hours since the last annual inspection. Examination of the airplane by the FAA revealed the left and right fuel tanks contained fuel. The header fuel tank was dry and exhibited signs of brown corrosion attributed to tank sealant. The gascolator was half fuel of fuel and was contaminated. The contamination was brown in color and appeared to be fuel tank sealant. The gascolator was disassembled. The brown substance dried and turned into a very sticky substance. The carburetor was broken off the intake manifold and the fuel line to the carburetor was broken off. The carburetor was disassembled and the fuel screen was clean with no evidence of fuel. The engine driven fuel pump was examined and no anomalies were noted. The fuel lines were examined and no blockage was present. The mechanic who performed the annual inspection stated that during the annual inspection that he noticed the gascolator was about three fourths full of a dark brown liquid that was clearly separate from the fuel which was on top of the liquid. The check list used by the mechanic indicates the gascolator screen and bowl were checked for safety. The FAA concluded the contamination in the fuel system reduced the fuel flow to the carburetor resulting in fuel starvation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate maintenance inspection resulting in fuel system contamination going undetected resulting in a total loss of engine power while on final approach to land.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1158 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Crossville |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 38555 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355704N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0850505W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| 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) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCSV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1881 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| 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) | 20299 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 20 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2006 2:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Nashville FSDO-03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N99083 |
| NTSB Number | ATL06CA082 |
| 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 | Ercoupe |
| Aircraft Model | 415C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1706 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 850 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2247 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James B. Stanley |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 119 Trentwood Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fairfield Glade |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38558 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James B. Stanley |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 119 Trentwood Drive |
| Operator City | Fairfield Glade |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 38558 |
| 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 | KSRB |
| Departure City | Sparta |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KCSV |
| Destination City | Crossville |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 23 2006 2:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |