- Date
- July 26, 1999, 09:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- St.Simons, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N5643TMaule M-5-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 2, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990726009919A
- Case key
- 46880
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 inadequate installation of the magneto assembly by other maintenance personnel that in resulted the separation from the engine and the subsequent loss of engine power. A factor was the swampy terrain condition.
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
According to the pilot, shortly after liftoff from the runway, the engine lost power. Attempts by the pilot to restore full engine power failed. The pilot selected a marshy area for a forced landing. The airplane flipped inverted during the attempted forced landing two miles northwest of the airport. The post-examination of the airplane disclosed that the dual magneto had separated from the engine assembly. The examination also showed that the magneto retention nuts and washers were not attached to the magneto. After the magneto was reinstalled on the engine, a satisfactory engine run was conducted. A review of the engine and airframe maintenance logs disclosed that the airplane was approximately 30 hours out of the last annual inspection.
Factual narrative
On July 26, 1999, at 0930, eastern daylight time, a Maule M-5-200, N5643T, collided with the ground and flipped inverted during a forced landing near St. Simons Island, Georgia. The personal flight operated was by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the private pilot was not injured. The flight departed from the Malcolm McKinnon Airport, St. Simons Island, Georgia, at 0928.
According to the pilot, shortly after liftoff from runway 34, at Malcolm McKinnon Airport, the engine lost power. Attempts by the pilot to restore full engine power failed. The pilot selected a marshy area for a forced landing. The airplane flipped inverted during the attempted forced landing two miles northwest of the airport.
The post-examination of the airplane disclosed that the dual magneto had separated from the engine assembly. The examination also showed that the magneto retention nuts and washers were not attached to the magneto. After the magneto was reinstalled on the engine, a satisfactory engine run was conducted. A review of the engine and airframe maintenance log books disclosed that the airplane was approximately 30 hours out of the last annual inspection. There was no record of magneto assembly removal during the last inspection.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5643T
- Reported as
- Maule M-5-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 8051C
- Airframe hours
- 2,970
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-JIA6D, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tom V. Willis Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 3, 1999 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- SSI
- Airport
- SSI · St. Simons Island, runway 34, 3,613 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 926 total · 426 in this make and model · 24 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SSI
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 22, 2000, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 794 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.