Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gurdon, Arkansas 71743
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 12:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, about 30 minutes into the cross-country flight, the airplane’s engine experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot stated that the airplane had departed with 35 to 40 gallons of fuel onboard, and, therefore, that sufficient fuel was remaining when the engine lost partial power. The engine subsequently lost total power when the airplane was about 1,500 feet mean sea level, and the pilot did not have time to troubleshoot the problem before having to shift his focus to identifying a suitable landing area. He completed a forced landing on a nearby road, but, during the landing roll, the left wing contacted a bush, which caused the airplane to depart the roadway and descend into an adjacent ditch. A postaccident engine examination revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane's actual fuel load and distribution at the time of accident could not be determined because the airplane was recovered from the accident site before local or federal authorities were notified of the accident. Therefore, it could not be determined whether the airplane experienced fuel starvation/exhaustion during the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because no mechanical engine malfunctions were identified and because the actual fuel load and distribution at the time of the accident could not be determined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/5/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Gurdon |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71743 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335526N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0931005W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1156 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ADF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 182 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| 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) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KADF 051756Z AUTO 06006KT 10SM BKN046 15/07 |
| 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) | 32626 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Federal Aviation Administratio |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2014 6:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9493V |
| NTSB Number | CEN13LA095 |
| 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 | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 700047 |
| 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 | Nov 14 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 3251 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Roy Ricketts |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Gurdon |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 71743-2902 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Roy Ricketts |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Gurdon |
| Operator State | AR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 71743-2902 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | PBF |
| Departure City | Pine Bluff |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 5M8 |
| Destination City | Gurdon |
| Destination State | AR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2014 6:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| 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 | -- |