Orange County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Orange, Virginia 22960
Saturday, November 16, 1996 15:00 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was taking off with 10 jumpers onboard. At the rotation speed of 100 knots, he used elevator trim to rotate the airplane, but it did not lift off the runway. He continued moving the trim wheel violently to pitch the nose up, and attempted to pull back on the yoke, but the airplane collided with rising terrain off the end of the runway. A witness did not see any of the flight controls move during the pilot preflight inspection, and during the takeoff roll, he did not observe a nose up rotation of the airplane. The pilot reported that he removed a single pin control lock from the yoke during preflight. The Beech control lock consisted of two pins, two chains, and a U-shaped engine control lock. The pilot walked away from the wreckage after the accident. No control locks were found in the wreckage. However, the control column shaft exhibited distress signatures on the periphery of the hole where the control lock is installed. No other evidence was found of any other form of mechanical jamming, interference, or discontinuity with the flight controls. Investigators were unable to identify any potential source of interference, other than a control lock, that could have simultaneously jammed both pitch and roll control. According to the airplane's manufacturer, about 3 to 6 degree of trim would have been normal for the airplane's takeoff conditions.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and his failure to complete the pretakeoff checklist which resulted in a takeoff roll with the control lock in place.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/16/1996
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City ORANGE
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 22960
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport ORANGE COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID W93
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 465
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1445 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 240
Weather Observation Facility ID CHO
Elevation of weather observation facility 641
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 23
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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 8
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 3
Injury Total All 11
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1878
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 16 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1600
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Sep 10 2001 1:08PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N814SW
NTSB Number IAD97FA023
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 Beech
Aircraft Model 65-A90
Aircraft Series Identifier 65-A90
Aircraft Serial Number LJ-186
Certified Max Gross Weight 8800
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 9
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 5 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FAYARD ENTERPRISES, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 703
Aircraft Owner City LOUISBURG
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 27549
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code W93
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1500
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code W93
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Standing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 8 2001 4:02AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 7
Runway Length 3200
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --