20050417005899I

(-23) On April 17, 2005 at 1800 local, an aircraft incident occurred at Rowan County Airport in Salisbury, north carolina. The following is an account of this inspector's on scene investigation. This office received a call from the line service supervisor at the Rowan County Airport (ruq) located in Salisbury, NC. He informed us that N494S, at AT-6D, lost power on the approach to rwy 20 and landed short of the runway at Rowan country airport. During landing, the aircraft right wing contacted part of the approach lighting system in the grass area prior to the runway. The aircraft then rolled 350 feet to the runway prior to stopping. The aircraft came to rest on the runway and was towed to a hangar. No injuries reported. During an interview, the PIC stated that after entering the down wind leg in the traffic pattern for runway 20, he reduced power to 20 inches manifold pressure. During the turn from base leg to final, he added some power to slow his descent but the engine did not respond. The PIC then started to manuever to avoid approach light in an attempt to land on the runway. PIC stated that once the airspeed got too low and the controls started losing effectiveness, he had no choice but to land short of the runway. The aircraft sustained minor damage. The right wing leading edge was the first point of contact with the brush and approach lights. There was damage to both the leading edge of the right wing, right wing flap and the prop tip. The first positive identification of the main landing gear tire (skid) markings on the approach end of runway 20 in the grass were 350 feet from the runway and 20 feet left of centerline in the grass. This is also the point were the left wing contacted ROW-2 of the ILS landing system. ROW-4 lights were also contacted 250 feet from the runway. After the completion of the engine teardown, the 8020.23 will be amended to show the results.