Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49002
Thursday, September 19, 1996 17:21 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, shortly after takeoff, about 200 feet above ground level, he felt a sudden deceleration and was thrown forward in his seat. He also noted that the airplane would not accelerate beyond 120 knots indicated airspeed, which he attributed to a problem with the pitot system, and that he decided to return to land. He said that while on the downwind leg, he retarded the throttle to idle, but the engine rpm reduced to 65 percent instead of the normal 28 percent. At this time, a red light illuminated in the cockpit, and the pilot stated that he believed this to be the warning light for the Emergency Fuel System. He said that as a precaution, he decided to shut the engine down and do a power-off landing. The pilot reported that he aimed for the first third to one-half-the-way down the runway, and he landed 'long and hot.' He was unable to stop on the remaining runway and steered the airplane on to a grassy area to the right side of the runway. He indicated that he had previously experienced anomalies with the fuel control unit and fuel pump; however, postaccident testing of these components did not reproduce the conditions reported by the pilot on the accident flight. Except for a slightly higher than normal idle (36 percent), the fuel controller performed satisfactorily. The airspeed indicator was damaged and could not be functionally tested.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The overrun of the runway as a result of the pilot's misjudgment of speed and distance because of an unreliable airspeed indication; reason for the unreliable airspeed indication was undetermined. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's perception of a power interruption and throttle/power control not being available for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/19/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1721 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | KALAMAZOO |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49002 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | KALAMAZOO/BATTLE CREEK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AZO |
| 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 | 10 |
| Airport Elevation | 868 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1723 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 868 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2003 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 19 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | NX72WP |
| NTSB Number | CHI96FA342 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GRUMMAN |
| Aircraft Model | F9F-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | F9F-2 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12078 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 15750 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 21 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 373 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLYING WARBIRDS FOUNDATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1712 LOCUST STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | PHILADELPHIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19103 |
| 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 | AZO |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | NORFOLK |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 12 2001 9:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | 6499 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |