Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chesnee, South Carolina 29349
Tuesady, April 7, 2009 11:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness reported that the accident airplane flew over his house and the engine sounded as if it was running slowly. The wings were rocking from side to side. As he continued to watch the airplane, the engine stopped running and the airplane descended until it crashed. The airplane impacted the ground in about a 35-degree nose-low attitude. Each wing leading edge had accordion type damage along the entire length. Examination of the fuel tanks found that they were not breached or damaged. The fuel tanks were drained; 3 gallons of fuel were recovered from the left tank and 1.5 gallons of fuel were recovered from the right tank. The recovered fuel included approximately 1 gallon from each tank that the airplane manufacturer considered unusable. The fuel selector was found in the off position. Examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal evidence of a preimpact malfunction or failure. In the month prior to the accident, the pilot was suffering from urinary symptoms that were interfering with his ability to obtain adequate sleep. Toxicology testing indicates that he had likely used at least one prescription sleep aid the night prior to the accident, in addition to relatively recent use of a sedating over-the-counter antihistamine and a prescription barbiturate medication. While the pilot’s extensive experience and the circumstances of the accident indicate the possibility that the pilot may have been distracted by physical symptoms, impaired by fatigue, or impaired by the effects of one or more of the medications he had recently ingested, the investigation was unable to determine conclusively that the pilot suffered from impairment or distraction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power in flight due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's inadequate inflight fuel planning and the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while descending for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1158 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chesnee |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29349 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350616N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815725W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 237 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GMU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 964 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| 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 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27307 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 17 2010 3:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8998L |
| NTSB Number | ERA09FA235 |
| 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 | GRUMMAN |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1B-0448 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1560 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 2295 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Good Shepherd Community Services |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Campobello |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29322-8406 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Good Shepherd Community Services |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Campobello |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29322-8406 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 33A |
| Departure City | Landrum |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 33A |
| Destination City | Landrum |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 4 2010 1:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |