Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grimes Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Urbana, Ohio 43078
Saturday, June 20, 2009 17:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that during the engine run-up prior to the first flight of the day, he noted that there was no resistance on the control knob when he checked the operation of the carburetor heat and that there was a slightly “sluggish” return in the engine rpms as it returned to normal. The engine operated normally during this flight. When he applied carburetor heat during the engine run-up for the second flight of the day, he noticed that the rpm needle "wiggled down 50" then returned to the set rpm. Everything appeared normal during the takeoff until the airplane reached about 200 feet above the runway, when it felt a little “soggy.” The pilot stated that he raised the landing gear to reduce drag, but it did not seem like the engine was producing power. The pilot then extended the landing gear and decided to land the airplane in a field off the end of the runway. The landing gear, which was not locked down, collapsed during the landing and the left wing was substantially damaged when it contacted a runway end identifier light. Postaccident inspection of the airplane and engine revealed that the carburetor heat bracket between the valve shaft and the cable was fractured and missing. The carburetor heat valve was in the open position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A failure of the carburetor heat cable attach bracket which resulted in the inadvertent activation of carburetor heat and the subsequent loss of engine power during takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's operation of the aircraft with a known deficiency.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1737 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Urbana |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 43078 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400734n |
| Event Location Longitude | 0834507w |
| Event Location Airport | Grimes Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | I74 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| 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 | 1956 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1051 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25811 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2009 12:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7660P |
| NTSB Number | CEN09CA378 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-2873 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| 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 | May 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 5895 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KINGCOLE COMANCHE LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1251 W BLEE RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | SPRINGFIELD |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45502-8896 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Marc S. Comegys |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Yellow Springs |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 45387 |
| 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 | I74 |
| Departure City | Urbana |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1737 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SGH |
| Destination City | Springfield |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2009 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sulp |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 4400 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |