York Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

York, Pennsylvania 17315
Sunday, February 2, 1997 10:30 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot/owner of a homebuilt Vans RV-4 airplane flew to his destination airport. He stated that he entered the down wind traffic pattern for landing, and observed an airplane on the taxiway, short of the runway. When he turned from base to final approach, the airplane on the ground taxied onto the runway. The RV-4 pilot elected to do 'S' turns to give the airplane on the runway time to depart, but it remained on the runway, so the RV-4 pilot initiated a go-around. Power was applied, and the wings were leveled, but the airplane continued to descend and contacted the ground. The airplane was damaged during ground contact, but it became airborne again and continued flying. The pilot then landed without further incident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's delay in initiating a go-around, and his failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush and contact with the terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/2/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City YORK
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 17315
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport YORK
Event Location Nearest Airport ID THV
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 480
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1050 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 5
Weather Observation Facility ID MDT
Elevation of weather observation facility 310
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 18000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
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) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 223
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 2 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:08PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N42BN
NTSB Number NYC97LA050
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 Berry
Aircraft Model VANS RV-4
Aircraft Series Identifier VANS RV-4
Aircraft Serial Number 2394
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 18 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 38
Airframe Hours 38
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TIMOTHY L. BERRY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1411 NORTH MAIN STREET, APT 3G
Aircraft Owner City HAMPSTEAD
Aircraft Owner State MD
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 21074
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 No
Departure Airport Code W54
Departure City WESTMINSTER
Departure State MD
Departure Country
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code THV
Destination City
Destination State PA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Go-around (VFR)
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 34
Runway Length 5188
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --