Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tradewind Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Amarillo, Texas 79118
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 7:08 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had just departed when, about one minute after takeoff, it made a turn as if to return to the airport at about 900 feet above ground level. A witness observed the airplane flying low before it impacted a warehouse building. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed water in the fuel recovered from both the left and right engine fuel systems. Both auxiliary fuel tank caps could be removed without releasing the expansion tab and the left main fuel tank cap could be removed without unscrewing the release mechanism, indicative that the caps were loose and worn. The airplane had been exposed to accumulating snow the week prior to the accident. An examination of the airplane's remaining systems revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to detect water contaminated fuel, which resulted in a loss of engine power shortly after takeoff. Contributing to the accident were the worn and loose fuel caps, which allowed water to enter the fuel tanks.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/17/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 708 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Amarillo |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79118 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 054656N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1015043W |
| Event Location Airport | Tradewind Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TDW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3633 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3607 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28816 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SW 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 29 2011 11:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8501Y |
| NTSB Number | CEN10FA122 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30-1660 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ZIOLKOWSKI JAMES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5702 SPENCER ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | AMARILLO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79109-7450 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William Ellett |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2230 S. Milam St |
| Operator City | Amarillo |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 79109 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TDW |
| Departure City | Amarillo |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ALM |
| Destination City | Alamagordo |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 8 2011 5:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bakd |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 5098 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |