- Date
- January 26, 2006, 12:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3292KGlobe GC-1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20060126003659A
- Case key
- 63184
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
A loss of engine power during descent due to an undetermined reason, which resulted in an off-airport forced landing and collision with a culvert.
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 solo private pilot was preparing to land following a personal flight. The pilot said that as the airplane descended to about 1,000 feet msl, all engine power was lost. The pilot performed engine emergency procedures, but was unable to restore engine power, and he selected a grass-covered field as a forced landing site. During the forced landing, the left main gear wheel struck a culvert, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. The airplane's maximum fuel capacity is about 55.6 gallons, with 52 gallons of usable fuel. The unusable fuel is about 3.6 gallons, or 1.8 gallons per side. The fuel tanks were not breached during the accident. Salvage crews reported draining about 5 gallons of fuel from the accident airplane prior to recovery.
Factual narrative
On January 26, 2006, about 1200 eastern standard time, a Globe GC-1B airplane, N3292K, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing, about 3 miles west of the North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport, West Palm Beach, Florida. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 1100, from the North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on February 2, the pilot reported that during the initial descent to the North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport, as the airplane descended to about 1,000 msl, all engine power was lost. The pilot said that after performing engine emergency procedures, he was unable to restore engine power, and he selected a grass-covered field as a forced landing site. During the forced landing, the left main gear wheel struck a culvert, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage.
The airplane was equipped with a Lycoming O-360-A1A engine.
The airplane's maximum fuel capacity is reported to be 55.6 gallons, with 52 gallons of usable fuel. The unusable fuel is about 3.6 gallons, or 1.8 gallons per side. The fuel tanks were not breached during the accident. Salvage crews reported to the NTSB IIC that about 5 gallons of fuel was drained from the accident airplane before it was moved from the accident site. The airplane's carburetor float bowl was damaged during the impact, and contained no fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3292K
- Reported as
- Globe GC-1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1285
- Airframe hours
- 2,880.6
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard E. McKinnon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2005
- Departed
- F45 · West Palm Beach, FL
- Destination
- F45 · West Palm Beach, FL
- Airport
- F45 · North Palm Beach General Aviat, runway 13, 4,303 × 75 ft
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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 1, 2005
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,244 total · 514 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI, 12 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.