Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Middleville, Michigan 49333
Sunday, July 6, 1997 7:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
EDO floats were installed on the airplane on 6/16/97, about 20 days before the accident. The pilot accumulated 5.8 hours total time in this airplane on floats. The revised weight and balance revealed a new useful load of 439 pounds. The pilot weighted 185 pounds, and was carrying a passenger weighing about 170 pounds and 36 gallons of fuel, which totaled 571 pounds. This was approximately 132 pounds over the airplane's maximum allowable gross weight. Shortly after takeoff, the airplane crashed and was destroyed by ground impact and postcrash fire. Ground scars were measured to be 50 feet long. A witness reported the airplane made a series of rpm changes, with the last being the engine going to full power. an examination of the airplane revealed neither a preimpact flight control failure nor any engine mechanical malfunction. A fuel sample from the right fuel tank appeared to be a mixture of auto gas and oil of the type commonly used for fuel in a two-stroke engine. The appearance of the fuel sample looked gold in color and had an oily feel to it when left to dry.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fuel contamination, due to improper servicing of the aircraft; and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, while maneuvering to land, which resulted in a inadvertent stall and collision with the terrain. The pilot's failure to ensure a proper gross weight of the aircraft, and his lack of total experience in type of aircraft were related factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/6/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 710 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MIDDLEVILLE |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49333 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 656 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 794 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1035 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 689 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 6 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1439 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N183DP |
| NTSB Number | CHI97LA197 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-18 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1883 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 20 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2272 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DALE RICHARD PITSCH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1180 BARLOW LAKE RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIDDLEVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49333 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | ROCKFORD |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |