Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greenwood-Leflore Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greenwood, Mississippi 38930
Friday, April 1, 2011 18:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was climbing through 13,000 feet when the pilot heard a loud "pop" and observed a large reduction in manifold pressure. He declared an emergency to an air traffic controller and initiated a slow descent to the nearest airport recommended by the controller. The pilot asked the controller if there was a mechanic at that airport and the controller stated that there was not but that a mechanic was available at another airport. The pilot elected to go to the other airport, which was farther away.
The pilot acquired the airport visually but was initially a little high and planned to enter the traffic pattern on a downwind leg for the opposite runway; the pilot lowered the landing gear to assist in losing altitude. However, the airplane was then low and the airspeed was decreasing. The pilot subsequently decided to abandon the downwind approach and land straight-in to the runway. The oil pressure gauge indicated zero and the oil warning light illuminated. The pilot continued to run the engine until he thought he could reach the runway, and then he shut down the engine. He subsequently raised the landing gear as the airplane became low, but the airspeed also decreased. He realized that he was not going to reach the runway and lined up with a grassy area short of the runway to avoid colliding with the instrument landing system. He extended the landing gear and flaps and the airplane touched down and collided with a ditch.
A postaccident examination of the engine assembly revealed that the right turbocharger would not rotate when actuated by hand. The turbocharger was removed and oil was noted in the compressor outlet tubing. Several of the blades were broken and some were bent near the tip in the direction opposite of rotation. Metallurgical examination of the right turbocharger revealed that the turbine wheel assembly failed due to a fatigue fracture of one of the turbine wheel blades, which led to an imbalance of the turbine wheel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot did not obtain the proper touchdown point as a result of his decision to shut down the engine and to deploy the landing gear and flaps before the landing was assured. Contributing to the accident was his decision to overfly a closer suitable airport and the fatigue fracture of a turbine blade in the right turbocharger, which led to an imbalance of the turbine wheel and the subsequent failure of the turbocharger.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/1/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1820 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Greenwood |
| Event State | MISSISSIPPI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 38930 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332950N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0900528W |
| Event Location Airport | Greenwood-Leflore Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GWO |
| 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 | 162 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GWO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 162 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| 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) | 29478 |
| 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 | Dec 28 2011 11:26AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N146DG |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA224 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 46-350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46-36066 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 5 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 14 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 154 |
| Airframe Hours | 3513 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FOUNTAINBLEAU MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4040 TULANE AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEW ORLEANS |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70119-6888 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Allan R. Garner |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | New Orleans |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70126 |
| 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 | MEM |
| Departure City | Memphis |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1720 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NEW |
| Destination City | New Orleans |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 7 2012 9:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 6503 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |