Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Griffith-Merrillville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Griffith, Indiana 46319
Thursday, May 21, 1998 12:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that was taking off on runway 08 with 20-degrees of flaps and when he was approximately 100' above the runway he released the banner hook out the pilot's window. The pilot stated that shortly after he dropped the hook the aircraft began to sink while the aircraft was in a left turn. The pilot stated that, 'the nose came down and the plane would not fly level.' In an oral statement to the Griffith police, the pilot stated that the aircraft was, 'Mushing, and would not fly.' The pilot stated in his written statement that the aircraft hit the ground nose first, flipped over and came to rest in an inverted position. A witness to the accident stated that the pilot did not utilize all of the available runway for the takeoff and was 'Surprised' with how little runway the aircraft used to become airborne. The witness stated that he saw the aircraft pitch-up before the aircraft descended towards the ground. The witness stated that the hook had freely fallen from the aircraft and that there was no evidence of the hook contacting the ground or surrounding terrain. In a post accident investigation of the aircraft, no anomalies were found with the aircraft controls or engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The aircraft's speed not maintained by the pilot, which resulted in the aircraft stalling in close proximity to the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/21/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | GRIFFITH |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46319 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GRIFFITH-MERRILLVILLE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 05C |
| 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 | 634 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 102 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VPZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 770 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1645 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 307 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 21 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1301 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2916J |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA158 |
| 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 | 150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15065716 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1170 |
| 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 | Oct 10 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 85 |
| Airframe Hours | 3877 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AID AIR LINES INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11249 SOUTH HALSTED STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHICAGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60628 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | O5C |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1240 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 8 |
| Runway Length | 4013 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |