Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Meade, Florida 33841
Thursday, September 14, 2006 19:53 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was being used for mosquito control and was carrying Scourge insecticide (Bayer), a mixture of resmethrin, piperonyl butoxide, and naphtalene. A witness said the airplane passed overhead at low altitude. He heard the engines "throttle back, then rev up and sputter." He said he could tell the right engine was sputtering because "the propeller was turning slowly." He saw the airplane pitch up, roll to the right, and descend into the ground. The airplane immediately caught fire. The on-scene investigation revealed one blade on the left propeller assembly was curled aft and the other blade was curled forward. One blade on the right propeller assembly was curled aft and the other blade was straight. Both engines later were disassembled and inspected. Crankshaft rotation produced camshaft, valve, and accessory drive continuity on both engines. No anomalies were noted with either engine's lubrication, induction, fuel injector, exhaust, and ignition systems. Examination of the spark plugs and cylinders revealed normal burn patterns and color. All cylinders produced compression except the right engine's number 6 cylinder. According to the manufacturer, its intake and exhaust valve springs had lost tension as a result of having been exposed to the fire. Both the left and right propeller governor controls were in the high rpm position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of power in the right engine while manuevering for reasons undetermined, and failure to maintain aircraft control which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Contributing factors were the airspeed below Vmc, and an altitude too low to afford a safe recovery..
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/14/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1953 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fort Meade |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33841 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 274430N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814645W |
| 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 | 1950 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 322 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 142 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.9 |
| 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) | 21437 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Southern Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 14 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5941Y |
| NTSB Number | DEN06GA128 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-3107 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Polk County Board of County Commissioners |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4177 Ben Durrance Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bartow |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33830 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BOW |
| Departure City | Bartow |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BOW |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 4 2007 11:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |