- Date
- July 29, 1994, 19:10 local (Jul 30, 1994, 00:10 UTC)
- Place
- Yazoo City, MS
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N74669Piper J5C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940729020119A
- Case key
- 37582
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
Partial blockage of the carburetor by a wasp nest, which was not visible during preflight, and which resulted in the loss of power.
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
About 10 minutes into a local flight, the engine lost power and the pilot made a forced landing to an open field. The airplane nosed over on landing. An examination of the carburetor revealed a wasp nest in the venturi that swelled when saturated with fuel. The nest was inside the carburetor and was not visible on preflight.
Factual narrative
On July 29, 1994, about 1910 central daylight time, N74669, a Piper J5C registered to John Granberry, crashed while on a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the pilot received minor injuries and the 2 passengers reported no injuries. The flight originated about 10 minutes earlier.
The pilot stated that after takeoff the airplane engine began to cut in and out. The engine then failed and he attempted a forced landing to a field. The airplane nosed over on landing. Examination of the engine by FAA personnel revealed that about 75% of the carburetor venturi area was blocked with mud dauber nest material,that swelled up when saturated with fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N74669
- Reported as
- Piper J5C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5-1452
- Airframe hours
- 6,991
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-2, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pigg, Dennis P.
- Registered owner
- Granberry, John F.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 28, 1993 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- Yazoo City, MS
- Destination
- Yazoo City, MS
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 260 total · 40 in this make and model · 260 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JAN, 25 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.