Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wings Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania 19422
Thursday, January 9, 1997 10:04 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor (CFI) was demonstrating a soft field takeoff on runway 6 to a student pilot, and attempted to demonstrate an early rotation at 45-50 knots. He raised the nose higher than a normal pitch attitude, and as the stall warning horn sounded, he lowered the pitch, but the airplane rolled to the left. The CFI reduced power, neutralized ailerons, applied right rudder, lowered the nose, and the airplane recovered; however, the airplane was heading towards trees. The CFI reapplied power, but the airplane rolled to the left, struck the ground, and nosed over. Witnesses observed the airplane with a high nose attitude just before it impacted the ground. Another CFI, who had flown the airplane, stated that during a power on/off demonstration flight, the airplane required 2,200 feet of altitude to recover. According to the police, the pilot said the airplane had taken off in a northeasterly direction, and the airplane was about 20 feet above the runway. He said the climb angle was about 15-17 degrees. The airplane's maintenance records revealed that on 5/20/96, an entry for a right rolling tendency was recorded and signed off by a mechanic as, 'checked aileron rigging within limits.' There was no record of the airplane being test flown after the write up. Post-accident examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector, revealed control continuity to all flight controls.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate handling of the airplane and failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in a stall, and collision with the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/9/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1004 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BLUE BELL |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19422 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WINGS FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N67 |
| 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 | 302 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NXX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 362 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 776 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 9 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1240 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N68304 |
| NTSB Number | IAD97LA041 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15282242 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 21 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 81 |
| Airframe Hours | 9504 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PENNSYLVANIA AVIATION INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1501 NARCISSA RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | BLUE BELL |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19422 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | N67 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1005 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | 6 |
| Runway Length | 2625 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |