Donaldson Center Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Greenville, South Carolina 29605
Monday, May 29, 1995 12:07 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

ACCORDING TO THE REAR SEAT, PILOT-RATED, PASSENGER HE HAD PERFORMED TWO TOUCH & GO LANDINGS. AFTER THE SECOND ONE, THE FRONT SEAT PILOT TOOK CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE TO EXECUTE ANOTHER TOUCH & GO. A STEEP LEFT TURN WAS INITIATED AND ABOUT 100 TO 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, THE AIRPLANE STALLED. DURING THE POST CRASH EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE, THE ELEVATOR TRIM WAS FOUND IN THE NEARLY FULL NOSE UP POSITION. POST CRASH TOXICOLOGY TESTS OF THE PILOT WERE POSITIVE FOR ANTIDEPRESSANTS THAT WERE BELOW THERAPEUTIC LEVELS. TOXICOLOGY TEST RESULTS OF THE REAR SEAT, PILOT-RATED, PASSENGER WERE REQUESTED, HOWEVER, THE HOSPITAL INDICATED THAT NO TESTS WERE ACCOMPLISHED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain flying speed. A factor was his failure to reposition the elevator trim.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/29/1995
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1207
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City GREENVILLE
Event State SOUTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 29605
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport DONALDSON CENTER
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 7A1
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 955
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1215 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID 7A1
Elevation of weather observation facility 955
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
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) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 2000
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 500
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 29 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:15PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N31328
NTSB Number ATL95FA101
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model J3C-65
Aircraft Series Identifier J3C-65
Aircraft Serial Number 3265
Certified Max Gross Weight 1220
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 Oct 14 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 91
Airframe Hours 7398
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DONALDSON AIR SERVICES, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 126 CLUB LOOP RD.
Aircraft Owner City GREENVILLE
Aircraft Owner State SC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 29605
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 7A1
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
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 Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22
Runway Length 8000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --