Piper PA-46-310P N6914T

Summary

On 28 January 2007 at about 18:27 local time, a Piper PA-46-310P registered N6914T, operated by Nick White, was involved in an accident near Madison, Mississippi, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 January 2007 at 18:27

Classification

Accident

Location

Madison, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Bruce Campbell Airport (MBO)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA-46-310P

Registration

N6914T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Nick White

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rogers → Destin

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW07CA059

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power due to water contamination in the fuel system. A factor was the muddy terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was damaged during a forced landing in a muddy field following a loss of engine power. The pilot said that while in cruise flight at 23,000 feet mean sea level, he heard a "medium loud pop" about one hour into the flight and noted an immediate drop in manifold pressure to approximately 15-inches. The pilot added that he thought the turbocharger had failed and that the engine would return to normal power when the airplane descended to an altitude below 10,000 feet; however, engine power never returned and the pilot elected to execute a forced landing to a muddy pasture. Two safety inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) performed an on-scene examination of the airplane and the engine. According to an inspector, the pilot landed in a muddy pasture and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, engine firewall, and landing gear. Examination of the engine, the accessories, and the fuel system revealed no mechanical deficiencies. When the airplane was recovered, approximately 90 gallons of blue colored aviation fuel was drained from both wing tanks and their respective collector/sump tanks, which were located at the root of each wing. Approximately one-quart of water was drained from both the left and right wing collector/sump tanks, which have a capacity of one U.S. gallon each. The engine was test-run on the airframe utilizing the airplane's existing fuel system. Due to the cool outside air temperature, the engine needed to be primed before it started. Once the engine started, it was operated through various power settings and it ran continuously without interruption. The magnetos functioned normally and all engine gauge readings were normal. No mechanical deficiencies were noted that could have contributed to the loss of power. The pilot stated that he conducted a preflight inspection of the airplane, which included draining both collector/sump tanks. The pilot added that no water was detected in the fuel at that time.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.