- Date
- August 14, 2005, 06:30 local (11:30 UTC)
- Place
- Alabaster, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1399GCessna 402B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050814018519A
- Case key
- 62359
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The flight departed the airport on a fairy permit heading southeast. About 25 minutes into the flight, at a cruise altitude of 3500 feet, the pilot noticed a significant loss of power from the left engine followed by the left engine failing. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful and the left engine was feathered. The right engine would not generate more then 29 inches of manifold pressure without running rough. The airplane turned toward Shelby County Airport, the closest airport to the airplane's current position, and the pilot attempted to perform an emergency landing. The airplane continued to lose altitude and at 900 feet the pilot chose to force land on a road, 3 miles southeast of the Shelby Airport. The airplane collided with a raised manhole cover and two roadside objects upon landing. Examination of the airplane found the airplane to the right side of the road with the right gear detached. The right wing had two tears in the leading edge. The left engine was run after the accident for a period of four minutes at 1800 RPM. The prop was cycled out of feather, the magnetos, oil pressure, and fuel pressure were checked. All engine checks were satisfactory to normal standards. The airplane had not been flown in over two years and sat outside a hanger for two weeks prior to being flown with no fuel in either tank. The fuel tanks were filled to capacity the morning of the accident flight. No contaminates were found in the fuel.
Factual narrative
On August 14, 2005, at 0630 central daylight time, a Cessna 402B, N1399G, registered to and operated by Aircraft Wholesale LLC., collided with the ground 3 miles southeast of the Shelby County Airport, Alabaster, Alabama. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The commercial pilot was not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Bessemer Airport, Bessemer, Alabama, at 0605 August 14, 2005.
The flight departed the airport on a ferry permit heading southeast. 25 minutes into the flight, at a cruise altitude of 3500 feet, the pilot noticed a significant loss of power from the left engine followed by the left engine failing. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful and the left engine was feathered. The right engine would not generate more then 29 inches of manifold pressure without running rough. The airplane turned toward Shelby County Airport, the closest airport to the airplane's current position, and the pilot attempted to perform an emergency landing. The airplane continued to lose altitude and at 900 feet the pilot chose to force land on a road, 3 miles southeast of the Shelby Airport. The airplane collided with a raised manhole cover and two roadside objects upon landing. Examination of the airplane found the airplane to the right side of the road with the right gear detached. The right wing had two tears in the leading edge. The left engine was run after the accident for a period of four minutes at 1800 RPM. The prop was cycled out of feather, the magnetos, oil pressure, and fuel pressure were checked. All engine checks were satisfactory to normal standards. The airplane had not been flown in over two years and sat outside a hanger for two weeks prior to being flown with no fuel in either tank. The fuel tanks were filled to capacity the morning of the accident flight. No contaminates were found in the fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1399G
- Reported as
- Cessna 402B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402B0573
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520 SER, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aircraft Wholesale LLC.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- EKY · Bessemer, AL
- Destination
- FL
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,000 total · 1,500 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KBHM
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.