Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Berwick Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Berwick, Maine 03901
Saturday, May 21, 1994 17:38 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE AIRPLANE DESCENDED STEEPLY TO THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE CRASHED AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE RUNWAY. THE EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE REVEALED THE ELEVATOR FLIGHT CONTROLS WERE MISRIGGED AND THE ELEVATOR OPERATED IN REVERSE TO NORMAL CONTROL INPUTS. THE INSPECTION OF THE ELEVATOR TURNBUCKLE REVEALED THE SAFETY WIRE WAS TIED IN AN UNSATISFACTORY MANNER. ALSO, AN ELEVATOR CONTROL BOLT WAS INSTALLED WITH INADEQUATE CLEARANCE FROM THE AIRFRAME. THIS WAS THE FIRST FLIGHT AFTER AN ANNUAL INSPECTION. THE INSPECTION WAS DONE BY A LICENSED MECHANIC. ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT, THE PILOT WORKED ON THE AIRPLANE FOR SEVERAL HOURS. SAFETY WIRE WAS FOUND INSIDE THE AIRPLANE; SCREWS AND FASTENERS WERE FOUND IN THE PILOT'S PERSONAL EFFECTS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight which fail to detect proper operation of the elevator which resulted in the loss of control inflight. A factor is inadequate maintenance which consisted of misrigging of the elevator flight controls.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/21/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1738 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | BERWICK |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03901 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BERWICK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 150 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 25 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 244 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2082 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 21 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1858 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3167E |
| NTSB Number | NYC94LA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AERONCA |
| Aircraft Model | 11AC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 11AC |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11AC-1507 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1250 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 19 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 1125 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GERARD J. CURRAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 44 SALMON FALLS ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | SOMERSWORTH |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03878 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1738 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |