Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jonesborough, Tennessee 37690
Thursday, February 17, 2011 17:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sat for approximately one month prior to the accident flight with its wing fuel tanks about one-quarter full. Prior to the accident flight, the pilot's preflight inspection included sumping the fuel tanks and he thought he had removed all of the water and rust flake contamination from the fuel tanks. During takeoff, about 40 feet above the ground, the engine began to run rough. The pilot attempted a 180-degree turn back to the airport; however, the airplane impacted a field west of the airport and came to rest inverted. A postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed that fuel sumped from the fuel tanks contained a small amount of rust particles and debris consistent with an airplane being in an accident. No contamination of the fuel was noted in the gascolator and the gascolator screen was clean. The fuel line from the gascolator to the carburetor was clear. The finger screen from the carburetor contained a few rust particles, but not enough to affect fuel flow. The carburetor contained a small amount of fuel in the bowl, with no contamination noted. No other anomalies were observed that would have precluded the engine from developing full power. Additionally, the weather conditions at the time of the accident were not conducive to carburetor ice at takeoff power settings.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power during initial climb for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/17/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Jonesborough |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37690 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361100N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822500W |
| Event Location Airport | Private Airstrip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1519 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| 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) | 30.07 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28719 |
| 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 | Aug 12 2011 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7237S |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA149 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 150H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15067937 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 10 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 3636 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William Garst |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Johnson City |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37602 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William Garst |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Johnson City |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 37602 |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | Jonesborough |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Jonesborough |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2011 3:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 1400 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |