Piper J-2 N16651

Summary

On 13 December 2006 at about 20:41 local time, a Piper J-2 registered N16651, operated by David C. Harwell, was involved in an accident near Williamson, Georgia, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 December 2006 at 20:41

Classification

Accident

Location

Williamson, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Peach State airport (GA2)

Coordinates

33.1953, -84.3714

Aircraft

Piper J-2

Registration

N16651

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

David C. Harwell

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Williamson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL07CA027

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection which resulted in fuel exhaustion a subsequent total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated he had flown the airplane earlier in the morning and two other personnel flew the airplane after him. The pilot decided to fly the airplane again, and he drained the fuel sump and checked the oil and fuel. The pilot entered the airplane, started it, and taxied out to runway 13 for takeoff. While on climb out at 300 feet AGL, the pilot made a left cross wind turn and the engine quit. The pilot lowered the nose of the airplane, made a left turn, pulled the carburetor heat out, and pushed it back in before he started a right descending turn to line up with runway 13.The airplane was low and collided with the ground in a right descending attitude. Examination of the crash site revealed no browning of vegetation and no smell of fuel. The fuel tank was not ruptured and no fuel was present in the fuel tank. The fuel lines were intact. The fuel line from the carburetor to the gascolator were removed and no fuel was present in the fuel line or the gascolator. The airplane was released for recovery and transported to a storage facility for an engine run. The engine was removed from the airframe and placed in a test stand. The carburetor was removed and a new carburetor was installed. An alternate fuel and, battery source, electric fuel pump, engine controls and magneto grounding wires were installed. The engine was started and ran at idle power. The propeller was damaged and prevented the engine from being advanced to the full power setting. The engine was shut down with the mixture control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.