Bridgeport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bridgeport, Texas 76426
Saturday, May 24, 1997 17:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After a 30 minute cross country flight, the pilot flew over the destination airport and observed that the wind sock was 'not functioning.' She then elected to use the same traffic pattern established by another airplane that was already in the pattern (runway 35). On final approach, she determined that she was 'high' and elected to extend full flaps to land. While on the landing roll, she decided to retract the flaps and apply full power for takeoff. After becoming airborne, 'following an insufficient gain of altitude', she elected to land on the remaining runway. By this time, she was 3/4 of the way down the available runway. Subsequently, the airplane overran the runway surface, rolling through a three foot deep ditch and striking a fence. The length of runway 35 is 4,009 feet. The closest weather observation facility, located approximately 25 miles south east of the accident site, reported the winds to be from 180 degrees at 6 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudgment of distance and altitude. A contributing factor was a tailwind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/24/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City BRIDGEPORT
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76426
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BRIDGEPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IF9
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 851
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by briefer
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
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) --
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1759
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 27 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1606
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:16PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8351R
NTSB Number FTW97LA203
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-161
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-161
Aircraft Serial Number 28-8116174
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 27 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5159
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name K. M. MILOUD
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5717 TUMBLWEED COURT
Aircraft Owner City ARLINGTON
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76017
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name DELTA AERONAUTICS INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 4201 NORTH MAIN
Operator City FORT WORTH
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 76106
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 FTW
Departure City FORT WORTH
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 1F9
Destination City
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 35
Runway Length 4009
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --