20140728018569A

N1CY ACCIDENT FSDO NARRATIVE

ON JULY 28, 2014 AT 11:20 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME (EDT) I (^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ AVIATION SAFETY INSPECTOR) WAS GIVEN INITIAL NOTIFICATION OF AN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT IN YULEE, FL. I DEPARTED THE ORLANDO FLIGHT STANDARDS DISTRICT OFFICE (FSDO) AT 11:50 EDT FOR THE ACCIDENT SCENE. WE WERE MET BY NASSAU COUNTY SHERIFF DEPUTY ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ AND HE OPENED THE GATE TO LET ME ON THE PROPERTY. ARRIVAL AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE WAS 15:45 EDT. THE ACCIDENT SCENE WAS ACCESSED BY A BOAT PROVIDED BY THE NASSAU COUNTY SHERIFF.

ACCIDENT SCENE: THE AIRCRAFT WAS RESTING UPRIGHT ON A MUDDY PENINSULA IN THE SALT MARSH SURROUNDED BY GRASS ABOUT SIX FEET TALL. THE BODY OF ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ HAD BEEN REMOVED BY EMERGENCY PERSONNEL AT THE DIRECTION OF THE NTSB. I BEGAN A 360 DEGREE WALK AROUND AND PHOTOGRAPHED THE AIRCRAFT AS MUCH AS THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT WOULD ALLOW. THIS IS WHAT I OBSERVED AND DOCUMENTED:

FLIGHT CONTROLS

CHECKED FOR CONTINUITY. VERTICAL AND LONGITUDINAL AXIS WERE FREE AND CORRECT. THE LATERAL AXIS APPEARED TO BE FREE AND CORRECT BUT MOVEMENT WAS SOMEWHAT RESTRICTED.

FUEL

THE FUEL CAP FOR THE MAIN TANKS IS LOCATED ON THE LEFT WING. THE CAP WAS UNSCREWED AND THERE APPEARED TO BE FUEL ABOUT AN INCH BELOW THE FILLER NECK. THE AUXILIARY TANK LOCATED IN THE AFT FUSELAGE/BAGGAGE AREA WAS INSPECTED AND NO FUEL WAS SEEN VISUALLY. THE FUEL GAUGES LOCATED ON THE FLOOR BETWEEN THE TWO SEATS INDICATED:

MAIN TANKS: 3/4 FULL (26 GALLON CAPACITY)

AUXILIARY TANK: SLIGHTLY ABOVE EMPTY (9 GALLON CAPACITY)

THESE READINGS SEEMED CONSISTENT WITH THE VISUAL INSPECTION. DUE TO THE POSITION OF THE AIRCRAFT, THE TANKS WERE NOT SAMPLED TO INSPECT FOR WATER OR OTHER CONTAMINATES. THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS LABELED WITH THREE POSITIONS ?AUX?, ?IN?, AND ?OFF?. THE SELECTOR POSITION INDICATED THE ?IN? POSITION.

ENGINE CONTROLS

DURING AN INSPECTION OF THE COCKPIT ENGINE CONTROLS; THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS WERE RECORDED:

THROTTLE: FULL

MIXTURE: FULL

CARB HEAT: IN (OFF POSITION)

PRIMER: IN (OFF POSITION)

MAGNETOS: NOT LABELED BUT THE KEY WAS FOUND TWO POSITIONS AWAY FROM THE ?OFF? POSITION. THE PILOTS OPERATING HANDBOOK (POH) FOUND ONBOARD LISTS THIS POSITION AS ?RIGHT?.

STARTER HANDLE: IN (OFF POSITION)

ENGINE VISUAL INSPECTION

THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WAS INSPECTED FOR DEFECTS. NO VISUAL OR OBVIOUS DISCREPANCIES WERE NOTED.

THE ENGINE OIL LEVEL (DIPSTICK) WAS CHECKED AND INDICATED A LEVEL OF TWO (2) QUARTS. THE OIL FILLER CAP WAS PLACARDED WITH AN EIGHT (8) QUART CAPACITY.

* NOTE (THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WAS PITCHED DOWN IN A NOSE LOW ATTITUDE AND THE OIL DIPSTICK LOCATED AT THE BACK OR ?HIGH? SIDE OF THE ENGINE AS IT SAT.

ACCIDENT NARRATIVE

AT APPROXIMATELY 10:02 EDT (14:02 UTC),^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ DEPARTED THE ?FLYING A RANCH? (FA84) LOCATED IN YULEE, FL. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ WAS THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (PIC) OF A 1948 TEMCO SWIFT (REGISTRATION NUMBER N1CY).

APPROXIMATELY 10:08 EDT (14:08 UTC) A WITNESS OBSERVED ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ DEPART RUNWAY 5 AT FA84 FOR A LOCAL FLIGHT. A SECOND WITNESS OBSERVED N1CY ON THE DEPARTURE LEG OF RUNWAY 5 AND NOTED THAT THE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE (RPM) OF THE ENGINE SOUNDED ?LOWER THAN NORMAL?. THIS WITNESS ALSO OBSERVED THE CLIMB PROFILE OF THE AIRCRAFT TO BE LOWER THAN NORMAL. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO BE IN A GRADUAL LEFT HAND TURN BEFORE THE AIRCRAFT?S WINGS WERE LEVELED AND THE AIRCRAFT DISAPPEARED FROM SIGHT.

THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED TERRAIN IN A MARSHY AREA APPROXIMATELY 0.2 NAUTICAL MILES (NM) FROM THE DEPARTURE END OF RUNWAY 5. THE AIRCRAFT WAS LOCATED ROUGHLY 25 DEGREES OFF THE EXTENDED RUNWAY CENTERLINE TO THE LEFT. THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS LOCATED ON APPROXIMATELY A 315 DEGREE MAGNETIC HEADING.