Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Nellis Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Minden, New York 13339
Sunday, May 24, 1998 17:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor was demonstrating a soft field takeoff to the student pilot. During the takeoff, the airplane hit a dip about 100 feet down the runway, and, according to the flight instructor, it 'catapulted them into the air in an extremely nose high attitude.' The instructor thought the student pilot was frozen on the controls when the airplane did not respond to his control inputs, so he yelled, 'I've got the airplane.' The student pilot reported that the instructor pulled the nose of the airplane up, the airplane started to shake and the instructor commented on being 'behind the power curve.' The airplane went off the left side of the runway through 24 inch tall grass and struck trees before it came to rest. The flight instructor reported he did not retard the throttle during the takeoff and did not experience any mechanical problems with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush. A related factor was the rough/uneven runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/24/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MINDEN |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13339 |
| 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 | NELLIS FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NY20 |
| 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 | 700 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1656 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 275 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1648 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 24 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N15913 |
| NTSB Number | IAD98LA062 |
| 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 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7225593 |
| 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 | Mar 20 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 95 |
| Airframe Hours | 13114 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BERKSHIRE AVIATION INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | GREAT BARRINGTON AIRPORT |
| Aircraft Owner City | GREAT BARRINGTO |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01230 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AL DEFRANCESCHI, JR. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 120 HIGHVIEW DR |
| Operator City | WINSTED |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 06098 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NY20 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1720 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GBR |
| Destination City | GRT BARRINGTON |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 2750 |
| Runway Width | 20 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |