John H Heiring EXPRESS N297JH

Summary

On 19 November 2002 at about 21:55 local time, a John H Heiring EXPRESS registered N297JH was involved in an accident near Moncks Corner, South Carolina, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 November 2002 at 21:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Moncks Corner, South Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Berkeley County (50J)

Coordinates

33.2650, -80.0086

Aircraft

John H Heiring EXPRESS

Registration

N297JH

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Moncks Corner → Charleston

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA03LA019

3 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed following a loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, resulting in an inadvertent stall and subsequent uncontrolled descent and in-flight collision with water.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight departed Charleston Airport with a private-rated pilot, two passengers, and about 50 gallons of fuel onboard a homebuilt Express airplane. The airplane was flown to Berkeley County Airport where the pilot performed about 6 to 7 touch-and-go landings on runway 05 for about half an hour. The airplane departed the traffic pattern and a witness in a boat on Lake Moultrie located north of the airport reported seeing the airplane flying from Moncks Corner towards Bonneau, and it "sounded like it was running out of gas." The airplane was then observed to pitch nose down and banked to the right completing not more than 2 rotations before impacting the water in a 90-degree nose low attitude. The total flight time was 45 minutes. Examination of the wreckage revealed all damage was impact related. The main fuel selector was found between "off" and "left," and the left secondary fuel selector was positioned to "left main." Testing revealed that fuel flow was possible through the main fuel selector, as found. Test of the engine driven magneto revealed it operated post accident; a discrepancy with the condenser was noted. Part of the electronic ignition system was tested and initially one of the two amplifiers worked post accident, but ceased operating. A bench test of the servo fuel injector indicated that at maximum metering suction (comparable to full throttle and full rich mixture), the flow was 3 pounds-per-hour (pph) below the service limits. Debris was found on the ball-valve and seat of the regulator and in the mixture control housing; the diaphragm appeared new. Examination of the engine revealed no evidence of pre impact failure or malfunction. On July 12, 2002, the engine was overhauled by a certified FAA repair station due to a propeller strike, the airplane had flown about 40 hours prior to the accident. The last conditional inspection was 2.5 months before the accident. Weight and balance calculations revealed the airplane was within the center of gravity limits at the time of departure and at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.