Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gilmer County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ellijay, Georgia 30540
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 10:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After landing the airplane with the intent of obtaining fuel, the pilot learned that fuel services were not available at the airport and subsequently obtained 5 gallons of automotive fuel that he added to the left fuel tank. Following a pre-departure engine run-up, the takeoff proceeded normally until, about 200 feet above the ground when the engine began losing partial power, which was followed by a total power loss. The pilot attempted to troubleshoot the problem, and stated that he "switched [fuel] tanks" as the airplane descended. The airplane impacted trees about 2,000 feet from the runway and came to rest. Post-accident examination of the wreckage revealed that both fuel tanks remained intact. About 4.5 gallons of fuel were drained from the left fuel tank, and a trace amount of fuel was observed in the right fuel tank. The fuel selector valve was positioned to the right fuel tank position. A subsequent test run of the engine revealed that it started almost immediately and ran at low, intermediate, and high power settings. Examination of maintenance records revealed that the engine was last overhauled nearly 25 years prior to the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/23/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ellijay |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30540 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343741N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843135W |
| Event Location Airport | Gilmer County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 49A |
| 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 | 1486 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1000 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DNN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 710 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24732 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 23 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 16 2008 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N333KQ |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA167 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7325325 |
| 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 | Dec 6 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 187 |
| Airframe Hours | 6420 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jesse S. Howard II |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Springfield |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45503 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Jesse S. Howard |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Springfield |
| Operator State | OH |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 49A |
| Departure City | Elijay |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PDK |
| Destination City | Atlanta |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 5 2008 3:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 3500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |