Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sackman Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbia, Illinois 62236
Saturday, June 23, 2007 13:53 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted terrain following a loss of engine power during a maintenance test flight with a company certified flight instructor (CFI) and mechanic. Earlier on the day of the accident, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power during an instructional flight. The student pilot switched fuel tanks, engine power was regained, and the airplane landed without further incident. Subsequent maintenance inspection revealed no fuel flow when fuel was drained through the gascolator with the right fuel tank selected. The mechanic inspected the airplane and called the CFI to perform a maintenance test flight in the airport traffic pattern. No anomalies were noted during the engine runup for the maintenance test flight. The test flight was planned to be conducted in the airport traffic pattern at traffic pattern altitude. The CFI reported that on the turn to base leg, she adjusted the throttle to 1,700 rpm, and the engine started to sputter and ran rough at an engine speed of 500 rpm. The CFI reported running the engine-out checklist by memory, but it did not accomplish an engine restart. The CFI decided the best option was to land in a cornfield to avoid trees and power lines. A postaccident investigation revealed that there were no detents evident in the fuel selector and that it was difficult to turn. The fuel selector did not possess safety wire on its mounting screws. The carburetor drain valve exhibited a brown colored material consistent with rust. The carburetor float had a green line around the float and rested above its minimum level. The green line was consistent with a reaction of the bronze float with water. The accelerator pump check valve was stuck and material consistent with water corrosion was noted within the accelerator pump. The bottom portion of the carburetor bowl contained a material consistent with rust and shiny gouges consistent with recent tooling marks adjacent to the area possessing rust at the bottom of the bowl. The airplane was operated without shoulder harnesses while providing rental/flight instruction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The certified flight instructor's (CFI's) inadequate preflight planning/preparation of a test altitude that would afford an on airport landing in the event of engine power loss. Additional causes were the CFI not flying a traffic pattern that would allow for an on airport landing should an engine power loss occur, the partial fuel system obstruction, and the inadequate maintenance by the mechanic. Contributing factors were the improperly serviced fuel selector and the low altitude at the time of engine power loss.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1353 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Columbia |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62236 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Sackman Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | H49 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4220 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CPS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 413 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23446 |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 25 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 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | St. Louis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1768T |
| NTSB Number | CHI07LA179 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7125087 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63.74 |
| Airframe Hours | 7665.56 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Andrew Mueller |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | St. Louis |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63104 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | St. Louis Sport Aviation LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2213 Sidney St |
| Operator City | St. Louis |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63104 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | H49 |
| Departure City | Columbia |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | H49 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 12 2008 12:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 2450 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |