Bruce Campbell Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Madison, Mississippi 39110
Sunday, January 28, 2007 12:27 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was damaged during a forced landing in a muddy field following a loss of engine power. The pilot said that while in cruise flight at 23,000 feet mean sea level, he heard a "medium loud pop" about one hour into the flight and noted an immediate drop in manifold pressure to approximately 15-inches. The pilot added that he thought the turbocharger had failed and that the engine would return to normal power when the airplane descended to an altitude below 10,000 feet; however, engine power never returned and the pilot elected to execute a forced landing to a muddy pasture. Two safety inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) performed an on-scene examination of the airplane and the engine. According to an inspector, the pilot landed in a muddy pasture and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, engine firewall, and landing gear. Examination of the engine, the accessories, and the fuel system revealed no mechanical deficiencies. When the airplane was recovered, approximately 90 gallons of blue colored aviation fuel was drained from both wing tanks and their respective collector/sump tanks, which were located at the root of each wing. Approximately one-quart of water was drained from both the left and right wing collector/sump tanks, which have a capacity of one U.S. gallon each. The engine was test-run on the airframe utilizing the airplane's existing fuel system. Due to the cool outside air temperature, the engine needed to be primed before it started. Once the engine started, it was operated through various power settings and it ran continuously without interruption. The magnetos functioned normally and all engine gauge readings were normal. No mechanical deficiencies were noted that could have contributed to the loss of power. The pilot stated that he conducted a preflight inspection of the airplane, which included draining both collector/sump tanks. The pilot added that no water was detected in the fuel at that time.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to water contamination in the fuel system. A factor was the muddy terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/28/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1227
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Madison
Event State MISSISSIPPI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 39110
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 322611N
Event Location Longitude 0900607W
Event Location Airport Bruce Campbell Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MBO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 4
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 326
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1254 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID JAN
Elevation of weather observation facility 346
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3500
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
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) 30.24
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) 21342
NTSB Notification Source Jackson FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jan 28 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2007 2:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Jackson FAA/FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6914T
NTSB Number DFW07CA059
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-46-310P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 468508074
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aviator's, Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Rogers
Aircraft Owner State AR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 72758
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Nick White
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Rogers
Operator State AR
Operator Country USA
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 No
Departure Airport Code ROG
Departure City Rogers
Departure State AR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DTS
Destination City Destin
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise - normal
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 27 2007 5:14PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --