Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Syracuse Hancock Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Syracuse, New York 13220
Friday, November 21, 1997 10:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The captain reported the airplane was empty except for the six cargo deck pallets that had been stacked at the 'B' position (toward the front end of the cargo deck) instead of being spread out and secured over the cargo deck floor. When power for takeoff was applied, the cargo pallets shifted and impacted the aft bulkhead. The takeoff was aborted. The pilots visually inspected the damage to the aft bulkhead and concluded that no damage had been done to the airplane. The cargo pallets were secured to the cargo deck. The pilots re-filed the flight plan and continued with the positioning flight. An inspection revealed substantial damage to the airplane. The company's aviation mechanic had told the cargo handlers to stack the pallets instead of spreading them out and securing them to the floor. The six pallets that fit on the cargo deck floor corresponded to the six pallet positions A - F. The cargo handlers strapped five of the pallets together with cargo straps and placed them on the pallet which was secured in the 'B' position. The five cargo pallets were not secured to the pallet in the B position. The pallet jack was secured on top of the five pallets by cargo straps.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight to ensure that the cargo pallets were properly secured. Also causal was the the improper securing of the pallets.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/21/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | SYRACUSE |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13220 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SYRACUSE HANCOCK INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SYR |
| 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 | 413 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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) | 1599 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 2 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 506 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N564PC |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA053 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-15 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-9-15 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47062 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 90700 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 12 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 102 |
| Airframe Hours | 52280 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KITTY HAWK, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 612787 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DFW AIRPORT |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75261 |
| 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 | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SYR |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | YIP |
| Destination City | YPSILANTI |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28R |
| Runway Length | 9003 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |