Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rawlins Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rawlins, Wyoming 83201
Saturday, July 31, 2010 9:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, prior to initiating the takeoff roll, he did not lean the fuel mixture. The airplane initially accelerated slowly, which the pilot expected at the high density altitude airport. About 50 feet above the ground, the pilot observed the engine rpm decreased from 2,700 to 2,500 rpm; the airplane was also losing altitude. The pilot elected to reduce the power and land on the runway overrun area; during the landing, the airplane struck a rock with the left main landing gear, which resulted in substantial damage to the elevator. A postaccident examination revealed that the spark plugs were carbon fouled, indicating that the engine was operating too rich. During the first engine run-up, the engine ran rough. After the spark plugs were cleaned, the engine ran normally with no anomalies noted. The airplane’s takeoff checklist notes, MIXTURE -- LEAN for maximum power at airports above 3,000 feet in elevation. The elevation of the airport was 6,813 feet. The density altitude at the time of the accident was 8,895 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, failure to properly use the takeoff checklist, and failure to lean the fuel mixture, which resulted in the airplane’s inability to attain sufficient airspeed due to the rich fuel mixture.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rawlins |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83201 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414820N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1071200W |
| Event Location Airport | Rawlins Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RWL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 6813 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RWL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6813 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29146 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 1 2011 11:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N35296 |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA376 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 177 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17702312 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Sep 2 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 67 |
| Airframe Hours | 2735 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wendells Fertilizer Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Grant |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 69140 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Terry M Wendell |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Colby |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 67701 |
| 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 | RWL |
| Departure City | Rawlins |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BFF |
| Destination City | Scottsbluff |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2011 3:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 04 |
| Runway Length | 7008 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |