Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Chinle Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chinle, Arizona 86503
Thursday, August 18, 1994 8:17 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT SAID THE AIRPLANE'S (NORMALLY ASPIRATED) ENGINE DID NOT PRODUCED ADEQUATE POWER TO CLIMB OVER TERRAIN LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE AIRSTRIP. DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL, THE AIRPLANE INITIALLY BECAME AIRBORNE UPON REACHING AN AIRSPEED OF 65 KNOTS. THE AIRPLANE CLIMBED BETWEEN 2 AND 4 FEET ABOVE THE DIRT RUNWAY'S SURFACE, AND THEN IT SETTLED BACK ONTO THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT CONTINUED THE TAKEOFF ROLL, AND AFTER ACCELERATING TO 70 KNOTS, IT AGAIN BECAME AIRBORNE. AS THE AIRPLANE FLEW PAST THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY, THE LANDING GEAR COLLIDED WITH THE PERIMETER BOUNDARY FENCE, THEN THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH GRADUALLY RISING TERRAIN. THE PILOT SAID THAT AT THE TIME OF THE MISHAP THERE WAS NO WIND OR TURBULENCE, AND THE TEMPERATURE WAS 78 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. BASED UPON THIS DATA, THE SAFETY BOARD CALCULATED THAT THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS APPROXIMATELY 7,900 FEET. AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE CHARTS NOTED THAT UNDER THE ALTITUDE AND TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS, THE DISTANCE TO CLEAR A 50-FOOT OBSTACLE IS OFF THE CHART; HOWEVER, INTERPOLATION YIELDS A MINIMUM DISTANCE OF 4,800 FEET. THE PREDICTED RATE OF CLIMB IS 150 FEET PER MINUTE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's premature liftoff, and his failure to attain the appropriate airspeed during a takeoff attempt under high density altitude conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 817 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | CHINLE |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86503 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CHINLE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Q32 |
| 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 | 5515 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7900 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1640 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 18 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 12:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5765R |
| NTSB Number | LAX94LA326 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7680083 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 5 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 3400 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RONALD E. PATE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 845 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA TERESA |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 88008 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RONALD E. PATE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4856 PORTSMOUTH |
| Operator City | EL PASO |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 79922 |
| 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 | Q32 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 817 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PGA |
| Destination City | PAGE |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | 17 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |