Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gardner Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gardner, Kansas 66030
Saturday, June 20, 1998 19:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was going to fly one more flight around the traffic pattern for some individuals to take photographs of his aircraft. The pilot stated that there was a dark storm cell approximately 3 statute miles north of the airport moving to the east. The pilot stated that after the aircraft rotated the normal climb speed of 55 mph seemed to diminish rapidly at 8 to 10 feet agl. The pilot stated that his back stick pressure produced a stall, followed by an uncontrollable sink that resulted in the aircraft impacting on the right side of the runway 17. Witnesses to the accident stated that the wind sock was limp at the start of the takeoff roll, but indicated strong gusting winds as the pilot rotated. Post accident investigation showed that there was thunderstorm activity in the area at the time the accident. There were reports of high, gusting, winds in the area at the time of the accident. Subsequent to the accident, the pilot stated in a interview with a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector that he had made a poor decision by taking off with the approaching thunderstorm in the area.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate weather evaluation and the aircraft stall. A factor to the accident was the gusting wind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | GARDNER |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66030 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GARDNER MUNICIPAL AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | K34 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 170 |
| Airport Elevation | 1042 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2016 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 242 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IXD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1087 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2495 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 390 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 21 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2320 |
| 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 | N921DH |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA211 |
| 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 | Hartzler |
| Aircraft Model | NIEUPORT 11 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NIEUPORT 1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 00736 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 770 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 17 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 13 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICHARD B. HARTZLER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 14203 SOUTH HAVEN |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRANDVIEW |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 64030 |
| 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 | K34 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1930 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | 17 |
| Runway Length | 3240 |
| Runway Width | 110 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |