Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Franklin Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Franklin, Virginia 23851
Sunday, September 30, 2007 16:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While practicing a holding pattern prior to commencing a very high frequency omnidirectional range (VOR) approach, the pilot switched fuel tanks. A short time later, the pilot commenced the approach. After passing the VOR inbound, and starting a descent to the minimum descent altitude, at approximately 1,000 feet, the engine lost power. The pilot transferred control to the safety pilot, and attempted several engine restarts. The airplane was over a forest at the time, and the safety pilot flew the airplane between two trees so that the wings would take most of the initial impact. The airplane came to rest in another tree 50 to 80 feet off the ground. Terrain conditions precluded examination of the airplane on scene, and additional damage occurred when it was removed from the tree for transport to a recovery facility. A postflight examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, and a sufficient quantity of fuel had been onboard. The fuel selector valve was located to the left and forward of the pilot’s seat, and the airplane’s fuel tanks were replaced 6.6 operating hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power during approach for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Franklin |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23851 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364130N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0765401W |
| Event Location Airport | Franklin Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FKN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 41 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1601 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FKN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 41 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.39 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24624 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 1 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2008 1:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Richmond |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N52359 |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA244 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | F33A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CE-492 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 1674 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Safe Air LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Suffolk |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 23432 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Monte S. Crowl |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVG |
| Departure City | Chesapeake |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1510 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PVG |
| Destination City | Chesapeake |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker to threshold (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2008 1:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 4977 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |