Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Sandy Creek Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Panama City, Florida 32404
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 10:53 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was parked outdoors for an extended period of time. The pilot/owner spent 2 days alternately draining water-contaminated fuel and test running the airplane’s engine several times. The pilot stated that he drained one fuel tank completely because the fuel appeared to be “milky” and serviced that tank with 10 gallons of fuel, but he later amended his statement and said he drained both tanks completely before he serviced them with "a combination of Jerry cans and a friend's pickup-mounted fuel tank." He then departed. The airplane experienced a total loss of engine power immediately after takeoff. The pilot attempted to return to the airport but landed in a retention pond short of the runway. The pilot reported that he performed a “shallow” turn to return to the airport, but a witness described “an abrupt/steep left-hand turn” followed by a ''stall" and descent to water contact. No preimpact mechanical anomalies were noted that would have precluded normal operation. After the accident, the engine was placed in a test cell where it started immediately, accelerated smoothly, and ran continuously without interruption. The manufacturer and the FAA have published letters, bulletins, and advisories that provided guidance to prevent accidents due to water contamination of the fuel system. It is likely that the pilot did not drain all the water-contaminated fuel from the airplane before departure, which led to the loss of engine power after takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to water contamination of the fuel, the pilot/owner's inadequate preflight inspection of his airplane, and his failure to maintain airplane control after the engine failure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/11/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1053 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Panama City |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32404 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 300605N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0852826W |
| Event Location Airport | Sandy Creek Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 75FL |
| 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 | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPAM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 17 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 13000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 25 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KPAM 111555Z AUTO 16007KT 10SM FEW130 SCT150 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31649 |
| 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 | Jul 9 2013 4:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2561V |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA440 |
| 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 | 170 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18066 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Feb 11 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 1541 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MEINEL JEFF H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Panama City |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32404 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | MEINEL JEFF H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Panama City |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32404 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 75FL |
| Departure City | Panama City |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Andalusia |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 9 2013 4:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |