Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Avenger Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
Thursday, March 29, 2007 11:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 6,127-hour commercial pilot discovered that the throttle was locked and would not advance when he attempted to add power after leveling off during an enroute descent. The airplane continued to descend, and the pilot tried to "wiggle the throttle back and forth" but the throttle would not advance beyond 1,000 RPM. During the subsequent forced landing, just prior to touch down, the pilot pushed the throttle forward very hard and felt the throttle pop loose, and the pilot was able to move the throttle aft and forward; however, with no affect to the engine RPM. The airplane landed on rough and uneven terrain and the airplane nosed-over during the ground roll. A review of the airframe logbooks noted the aircraft had previously been repaired after previous mishaps. Additionally, the airframe had completely been rebuilt in July 2003, including replacement of the firewall during the scheduled overhaul for the airplane. A newly overhauled engine had been installed approximately 3.5 hours prior to the accident. The investigation revealed that a throttle cable support angle was missing from the firewall. No evidence was found to confirm that the support angle was installed when the engine firewall was last replaced.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to the failure of the throttle lever/linkage. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/29/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sweetwater |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79556 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | AVENGER FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SWW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2380 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1105 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSWW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2380 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| 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) | 22144 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 29 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N744 |
| NTSB Number | DFW07TA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-8309009 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 11955 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | USDA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2150 Centre Ave Bldg B MSC 3W9 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Collins |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80526 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SWW |
| Departure City | Sweetwater |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2007 4:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |