Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spence Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Moultrie, Georgia 31768
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 13:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was flown from Texas to Georgia, with an intermediate fuel stop in Mississippi. After landing at an airport in Georgia, the pilot/owner realized that his destination was situated on a different airport, located about 6 miles away. The pilot stated that he departed for the other airport, and when the airplane was at an altitude of approximately 1,500 feet above mean sea level, and 2 miles from the second airport, the engine "quit running." Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful, and the pilot conducted a forced landing to a field, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. Post-accident examination revealed that the airplane had sufficient fuel, and was configured properly for flight. The engine was successfully started and run with no problems. A detailed examination of the engine compartment revealed that the carburetor heat duct, which consisted of a material typically referred to as "scat tubing," was split around most of its circumference. Maintenance records indicated that an annual inspection was completed 4 days prior to the accident. The records indicated that the duct was installed on the airplane at least 8 years prior to the accident, and may have been installed 19 years prior to the accident. A representative of a manufacturer of aircraft scat tubing stated that the company considered the material to have a "shelf life" of 20 years.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to carburetor icing as a result of the maintenance technician's failure to detect and correct the condition of the carburetor heat duct.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/22/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Moultrie |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31768 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 310816N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0834214W |
| Event Location Airport | Spence Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MUL |
| 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 | 292 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1240 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MGR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27291 |
| 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 | Sep 14 2010 12:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N66VJ |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA257 |
| 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 | MAULE |
| Aircraft Model | M-5-180C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 8077C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Apr 18 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 1243 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LEE H ALLEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 1605 |
| Aircraft Owner City | HILLTOP LAKES |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77871-1605 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | LEE H ALLEN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | HILLTOP LAKES |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77871-1605 |
| 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 | MGR |
| Departure City | Moultrie |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1250 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MUL |
| Destination City | Moultrie |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 11 2010 2:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |