Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Alexandria Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alexandria, Louisiana 71303
Sunday, December 27, 2009 15:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot completed the pre-landing checklist on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern in his single-engine airplane, which included switching the fuel selector to the fullest (right wing) tank, turning the fuel pump switch on, and making sure the mixture control was at the full rich position. The pilot did not use carburetor heat since the checklist said to only apply it "as necessary" and there was no indication of carburetor icing. As the airplane turned on to the base leg, the engine stopped producing power and the pilot made a forced landing to a plowed field. During the landing the airplane nosed over. The engine was later test run on the airplane using fuel from the right wing tank. The engine started immediately and ran smoothly. No anomalies were noted except that when carburetor heat was applied a drop followed by a rise in rpm was noted, which is consistent with ice buildup in the carburetor. Despite the possible presence of ice during the test run, a review of the Carburetor Icing Probability Chart revealed that the conditions at the time of the accident were not conducive to light, moderate, or serious icing conditions and the cause of the power loss could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/27/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Alexandria |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71303 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 311923N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0923232W |
| Event Location Airport | Alexandria |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AEX |
| 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 | 1353 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AEX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 89 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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) | 26625 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SWR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 10 2010 4:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7230W |
| NTSB Number | CEN10LA080 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-1047 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Dec 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2915 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jack Bradley McCullough |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kerrville |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jack Bradley McCullough |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Kerrville |
| Operator State | TX |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ESF |
| Departure City | Essler |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1510 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AEX |
| Destination City | Alexandria |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 14 2010 1:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |