Marked Tree Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Marked Tree, Arkansas 72365
Saturday, July 21, 2012 8:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that about 5 minutes after reaching cruise altitude, the engine started to run rough with an accompanying partial loss of power. He noted that the engine exhaust temperatures had dropped but that other engine indications were normal. The pilot elected to divert to an intermediate airport; however, the engine continued to lose power, and the pilot was unable to maintain a proper glide path to the runway. The pilot was concerned about an inadvertent aerodynamic stall, so he made a forced landing to the bean field short of the runway. Postaccident bench testing of the engine fuel injection servo revealed variations in fuel flow that were not consistent with normal servo operation. Further examination of the fuel servo revealed that the mixture control valve O-ring was damaged and that a fragment of the O-ring was located on the surface of the mixture control valve plate. This likely interfered with fuel flow through the servo and reduced the available engine power. The fuel servo was overhauled about 1 year before the accident and had accumulated about 113 hours in service since the overhaul.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power during cruise flight due to a malfunction of the fuel injection servo due to a damaged O-ring.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/21/2012
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 830
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Marked Tree
Event State ARKANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 72365
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 353159N
Event Location Longitude 0902401W
Event Location Airport Marked Tree Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6M8
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 219
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID AWM
Elevation of weather observation facility 212
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KAWM 211353Z AUTO 07006KT 10SM CLR 28/23 A29
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 30869
NTSB Notification Source FAA -- ASW ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2012 3:57PM
User who most recently changed record sort
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1310W
NTSB Number CEN12FA463
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 MOONEY
Aircraft Model M20E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 198
Certified Max Gross Weight 2575
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 12 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 5138
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Neil H Cohen
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Germantown
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38139-5445
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Neil H Cohen
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Germantown
Operator State TN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 38139-5445
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 AWM
Departure City West Memphis
Departure State AR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 804
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code UUV
Destination City Sullivan
Destination State MO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 31 2012 3:50PM
User who most recently changed record sort
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 3200
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --