Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mid Florida Air Service Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mt Dora, Florida 32757
Monday, July 24, 1995 7:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and his passenger were en route to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to attend the Experimental Aircraft Association annual meeting. They had intended to camp in tents while at the meeting. The pilot departed his home earlier in the morning, and flew to the Mid-Florida Airport to pick up a passenger. After arriving, the pilot told witnesses that during the flight, the airplane's center of gravity was aft, and he had to use a lot of forward trim to maintain level flight. The pilot and passenger hurriedly loaded the passenger's baggage on board the airplane, without weighing the baggage, and attempted to depart. The takeoff roll was longer than normal, and the airplane climbed to about 300 feet. The airplane began a right turn, then it entered a left bank, which continued to steepen. The airplane then entered a steep descent and crashed in a lake. Weight and balance calculations showed the airplane's gross weight (GW) was 2765 pounds, and its center-of-gravity (CG) was at 85.4 inches. Its maximum certificated GW for takeoff was 2757.5 pounds, and its aft CG limit for that weight was 85.1 inches.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation by allowing the airplane's weight and balance to be exceeded, and his failure to maintain control of the airplane, while turning after takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 750 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MT DORA |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32757 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MID FLORIDA AIR SERVICE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X55 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 198 |
| Airport Elevation | 167 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 750 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 113 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2014 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 24 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 850 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4288B |
| NTSB Number | ATL95FA142 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | 35F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 35F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-4219 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 4533 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GARY E. BALKE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7205 PENSACOLA RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | FT. PIERCE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34951 |
| 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 | X55 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 740 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OSH |
| Destination City | OSHKOSH |
| Destination State | WS |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| 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 | 18 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 80 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |