Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Guntersville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Guntersville, Alabama 35976
Sunday, September 8, 2013 17:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On September 8, 2013, about 1700 central daylight time, a Piper PA-32R-300, N8362C, registered to and operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged during a forced landing in a lake short of a runway at Guntersville Municipal Airport-Joe Starnes Field (8A1), Guntersville, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal, local flight from Northeast Alabama Regional Airport (GAD), Gadsden, Alabama. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the private pilot and 1 passenger sustained minor injuries. The flight originated about 1 hour earlier from GAD.
The pilot stated that before departure he performed a preflight inspection of the airplane which included checking the fuel tanks and low point of the fuel system for contaminants; none were found. The flight departed with about 20 gallons fuel in each wing fuel tank and the fuel selector positioned to the left tank. After departure he flew over the passenger’s house then flew North to Guntersville, then flew over the lake. Because of haze, he decided to return to GAD. About 40 to 45 minutes into the flight, he switched the fuel selector to the right tank. The flight continued and about 15 minutes after switching tanks, the engine quit suddenly; there was no sputtering and the propeller continued to rotate. Immediately before the loss of power the airplane was flying at 3,800 feet, and the engine was set to 2,250 to 2,300 rpm, the manifold pressure was between 22 and 23 inches, and the mixture was leaned 75 degrees rich of peak, consuming approximately 15 gallons-per-hour. He glanced at the fuel pressure and it was still in the normal range. At that point he was flying in a southerly direction and was 3 to 4 miles south of 8A1. He turned to the right to fly to 8A1, and immediately switched tanks, and turned on the auxiliary fuel pump, but engine power was not restored. He pitched to maintain 120 miles-per-hour (mph) and continued towards 8A1. He switched tanks 3 to 4 times in an effort to restore engine power but with no effect.
When near 8A1, he called in on the common traffic advisory frequency and advised he would be attempting an emergency landing. The winds favored runway 21, and while on approach to that runway with the flaps retracted, the airplane was slowed to the point that the auto extend system caused the landing gear to extend. He estimated the flight was about ½ to ¾ mile from the approach end of runway 21 at that time. Unable to reach the runway, he landed the airplane in the water about 100 yards from land. The airspeed at touchdown was 70 mph, and the airplane did not go inverted at touchdown. The airplane came to rest in 3 to 4 feet of water north of the airport; the left wing spars were fractured and the wing remained connected by flight control cables.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/8/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Guntersville |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35976 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342416N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0861602W |
| Event Location Airport | Guntersville Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8A1 |
| 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 | 615 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 176 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 8A0 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1032 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2013 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | mont |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8362C |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA407 |
| 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-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7680099 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 18 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5156 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BONDS THOMAS P |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SOUTHSIDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35907-7072 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BONDS THOMAS P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SOUTHSIDE |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 35907-7072 |
| 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 | GAD |
| Departure City | Gadsden |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GAD |
| Destination City | Gadsden |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2013 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | mont |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 3368 |
| Runway Width | 95 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |