Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bessemer, Al Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bessemer, Alabama 35022
Sunday, June 8, 2008 18:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to one of the pilots of the Cessna 177RG, during the preflight inspection, he observed approximately 35 gallons of fuel onboard. The other pilot sumped the fuel tanks and no water was present. After engine start, runup was "normal," and the pilots completed the pre-takeoff checklists with no anomalies noted. After takeoff, the pilot at the controls retracted the landing gear and "immediately" observed a "very noticeable" drop in rpm and airspeed. With insufficient runway remaining, he made a slight turn to avoid obstacles at the end of the runway, lowered the landing gear, extended the flaps, and reduced power. The airplane impacted terrain, bounced back into the air, and impacted trees. The airplane came to rest nose-down at the base of a tree. The pilots exited the airplane, and because of a strong odor of fuel, turned the fuel selector to the "off" position, and turned off the master switch. Neither the pilots nor the on-scene Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported any mechanical anomalies on scene. The inspector also confirmed cylinder compression and spark from the dual magnetos. The airplane was subsequently moved to a salvage yard, where an engine run was performed under Safety Board oversight. The engine started after 5 to 6 turns, and ran for about 5 minutes. During magneto checks, the left magneto of the dual magneto appeared to be operating abnormally, resulting in increased engine shaking as the rpm was increased. The engine ran normally on the right magneto.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the left magneto for undetermined reasons resulting in a partial loss of engine power during takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/8/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bessemer |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35022 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331845N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0865534W |
| Event Location Airport | Bessemer, AL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EKY |
| 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 | 700 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EET |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 587 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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) | 24898 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 8 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 22 2009 8:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N45133 |
| NTSB Number | NYC08CA208 |
| 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 | 177RG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 177RG1094 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 2525 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James Johnson and Harlan Best |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Birmingham |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35216 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James Johnson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Birmingham |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 35216 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | EKY |
| Departure City | Bessemer |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | EKY |
| Destination City | Bessemer |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 7 2009 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 6007 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |