Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Waterford, Ohio 45786
Sunday, August 18, 1996 19:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot/owner asked the passenger if she wanted a ride in his airplane. The passenger stated that during takeoff, she felt as if the airplane was going straight up with the control stick full back. She stated that the left wing went down, and she thought that the pilot was turning left. A private pilot witness on the ground, watching the takeoff, stated that the airplane appeared to be going straight up, and at approximately 100 feet off the ground, the airplane did what the witness called a 'Hammerhead Stall.' The witness never heard the engine stop running. He stated that the airplane descended below a hill, out of his sight, then he heard the noise of impact. The pilot/owner of the airplane stated to the local police that he thought 'he lost power, that the engine just wasn't pulling' and that he thought he reached 600 feet in altitude. The airplane wreckage had collapsed fixed main landing gear with minimum ground scarring. There were fresh deep cuts in the dirt of the rough surrounding turf and both tips of the propeller blade were twisted and bent aft.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's decision to abruptly maneuver the airplane with insufficient altitude to recover.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/18/1996
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1915
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City WATERFORD
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 45786
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1950 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 145
Weather Observation Facility ID KPK
Elevation of weather observation facility 858
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
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 Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1981
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 19 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2311
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:17AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N88428
NTSB Number IAD96LA137
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 Bellanca
Aircraft Model 8KCAB
Aircraft Series Identifier 8KCAB
Aircraft Serial Number 16275
Certified Max Gross Weight 1153
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 Dec 2 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 4
Airframe Hours 589
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FRED B. MASON
Aircraft Owner Street Address ROUTE 2, BOX 274
Aircraft Owner City WATERFORD
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 45786
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 PVT
Departure City
Departure State OH
Departure Country
Departure Time 1930
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 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 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --