Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Athens Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Athens, Texas 75751
Saturday, July 26, 2008 13:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that prior to the accident flight, he told the fixed based operator that the airplane was "slightly off in performance" and the engine had a "tendency" to "build up carbon." On the day of the accident, the pilot fueled the airplane, and after thorough preflight and engine run-up checks that did not disclose any anomalies, he initiated the accident takeoff. The pilot stated that during the climb, there seemed to be a lack of engine power. A witness stated that the airplane "seemed to accelerate very slowly, however the engine sounded fine." The witness also stated that the airplane "continued to try to climb without much luck." The airplane started to descend, and the pilot stated that he attempted to maintain altitude. The pilot further stated that the engine power continued to decrease, and the stall horn sounded just above the tree tops. He attempted to "get the nose up" to expose the belly of the airplane to the obstacles ahead. The airplane impacted the trees and came to rest upright about one-half mile southwest of the airport. It was substantially damaged during the impact sequence. Postaccident examination of the airplane and engine did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions. The engine was started by investigators without hesitation and ran for several minutes. Maintenance records indicated that a "top overhaul" was conducted on the engine about 2 years prior to the accident, and that the last recorded annual inspection was about 10 years prior to the accident. The pilot did not hold a pilot certificate or current medical certificate.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power during initial climb due to undetermined reasons, which led to an uncontrolled descent and subsequent aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper preflight decision to attempt the flight with a suspected engine problem.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Athens |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75751 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 320949N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0954942W |
| Event Location Airport | Athens |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | F44 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 444 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TYR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 544 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| 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) | 30.11 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24463 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ASW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 26 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2009 9:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | DFW Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6257E |
| NTSB Number | DEN08LA129 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46357 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 3 |
| 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 | May 1 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Paul Kaemmerling |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Liberty |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77575 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | 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 | F44 |
| Departure City | Athens |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | T78 |
| Destination City | Liberty |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2009 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kaij |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 3988 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |