Cessna 421B accident near Apison, TN
On December 2, 2004, a Cessna 421B (airplane) was involved in an accident near Apison, TN. 5 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 2, 2004
- Place
- Apison, TN
- Aircraft
- Cessna 421B · Airplane
- Injuries
- 5 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 35.081°N, 85.009°W
- NTSB ID
- 20041207X01930
Official records · ATL05FA032
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On December 2, 2004, at 1324 eastern standard time, a Cessna 421B, N421SD, registered to Georgia Cumberland Conference of Seventh Day Adventist, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 business flight, collided with trees and the ground while attempting a forced landing in the vicinity of Apison, Tennessee. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight plan was not activated. The airplane was destroyed and there was a post-crash fire. The commercial pilot, and four passengers were fatally injured. The airline transport pilot-rated passenger (ATP) reported serious injuries. The flight originated from Collegedale Municipal Airport, Collegedale, Tennessee, on December 2, 2004, at 1318. The ATP passenger seated in the right front cockpit seat stated the pilot departed from runway 03 without completing an engine run-up. The airplane was between 200 to 300 feet on initial takeoff climb when the right engine lost power and the airplane yawed to the right. The pilot lowered the nose of the airplane to gain airspeed, pulled the right power lever rearward and nothing happened. The pilot did not feather the right propeller and started moving switches in the vicinity of the boost pump switches. At one point the ATP passenger stated, he did not think the left engine was producing full power. He scanned the instruments with his eyes looking at the manifold pressure gauges. "One needle was at zero and the other was at 25-inches. The manifold pressure should have been 39-inches of manifold pressure. I assumed the zero re
Probable cause
The pilot's improper identification of a partial loss of engine power on initial takeoff climb resulting in a collision with trees and the ground. A factor was a partial failure of the left engine starter adapter due to overload.
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Browse: Tennessee · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
