Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Westerly, Rhode Island 02891
Monday, July 23, 2012 15:02 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 12 minutes into a local banner towing flight, while flying 650 feet above the ocean, the airplane’s engine began running roughly. The pilot responded by increasing the throttle to full, richening the mixture, and applying carburetor heat, all to no avail. Shortly thereafter, the engine lost power completely, so the pilot performed a forced landing to the ocean and was later rescued by civilian boaters. The airplane was recovered from the ocean more than 1 week after the accident. The pilot/operator was able to perform a cursory inspection of the engine at the time, but no definitive cause for the loss of power was identified. Due to the salt water-damaged state of the engine, no further detailed examination could be completed. At the time of the accident, the engine had accumulated nearly 2,300 hours since its most recent overhaul and 150 hours since its most recent annual inspection. Weather conditions at an airport 6 miles from the accident location were conducive to the formation of serious carburetor ice at glide power settings.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined due to the postaccident salt water-damaged state of the engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1502 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Westerly |
| Event State | RHODE ISLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02891 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411703N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0714002W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1500 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WST |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 81 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31464 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2013 3:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7313Z |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA474 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-25-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-3245 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 150 |
| Airframe Hours | 4870 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SIMMONS MARK A DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 353 GREENHAVEN RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | PAWCATUCK |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06379-2093 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SIMMONS AVIATION SERVICES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PAWCATUCK |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 06379-2093 |
| 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) | Banner Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | WST |
| Departure City | Westerly |
| Departure State | RI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1445 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | WST |
| Destination City | Westerly |
| Destination State | RI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2013 3:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |