NTSB Faults Engine Failure in Lebanon School Plane Crash

A federal agency has traced a September plane crash near a Lebanon elementary school to an engine failure.

The National Transportation Safety Board released its report Oct. 27 on the Cessna R182 that went down at around 6:15 p.m. on September 1. The aircraft came to rest in a grassy field behind Byers Dowdy Elementary School off Hickory Ridge Road. No one was hurt. Law enforcement said some students were inside the school at the time but were not outside.

The report states the owner and pilot collected the plane after its annual inspection at Lebanon Municipal Airport that day and planned a 20-minute flight to his home airport in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He told investigators he visually confirmed 20 gallons of fuel in the tanks, completed pre-flight checks and ran the engine before takeoff with no anomalies reported.

The engine began sputtering shortly after takeoff at about 500 feet, the report states, and lost all power seconds later. The pilot switched on the auxiliary fuel pump but could not restart the engine. With no power and unable to return to the airstrip, he steered toward a parking lot for a forced landing. He could not extend the flaps or drop the landing gear in the time available. The plane landed in the parking lot and slid into the field behind the school. The pilot climbed out and walked away.

Justin Muir, a resident who lives across the street from where the plane stopped, ran to the scene. He said he first thought a car had gone into a ditch. "I saw a flash kind of fly by the window," Muir said. "I ran over to make sure everybody is alright. Another guy beat me there and by time I got there, the pilot was stepping out of the cockpit and stood up and he was fine."

The NTSB recovered the aircraft. The report describes substantial damage, but the engine restarted and ran cleanly for a full minute on an alternate fuel source. The agency classified the event as an accident caused by engine failure, possible due to bad fuel. The plane has since been repaired and its engine runs properly.