Essex County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Caldwell, New Jersey 07006
Thursday, November 5, 1998 13:54 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that after an uneventful landing on runway 22 at the Essex County airport, the brakes locked and the airplane ground looped. A tower controller reported observing the aircraft land on runway 22 and then veer off the runway into the grass on the north side of taxiway bravo which is located approximately 1,500 feet upwind of the threshold for the runway, and is the first available taxiway exit to the midfield ramp area. Winds at the time of the accident were reported as variable at six knots. A maintenance representative from a local fixed base operator (FBO) recalled that several of his employees freely rolled the aircraft on its main wheels off the runway to the FBO's ramp subsequent to the accident. The aircraft was transported via flatbed truck from the Essex County Airport to Sky Acres airport, Lagrangeville, New York, for repairs. The facility effecting repairs reported that the post accident repairs included 'servicing of the brakes' but that no other corrective repair work had been done on the aircraft's Cleveland brakes.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain directional control resulting in a ground-loop.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/5/1998
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1354
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City CALDWELL
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 07006
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ESSEX COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CDW
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 173
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1351 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 112
Weather Observation Facility ID TEB
Elevation of weather observation facility 9
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1800
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 18 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 850
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:53AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2619K
NTSB Number IAD99LA017
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 Luscombe
Aircraft Model LL-8-C
Aircraft Series Identifier LL-8-C
Aircraft Serial Number 5346
Certified Max Gross Weight 1200
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3067
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SULLIVAN, ROBERT, E.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 39 W 67TH STREET
Aircraft Owner City NEW YORK
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 10023
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 CDW
Departure City
Departure State NJ
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
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 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 22
Runway Length 4553
Runway Width 80
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --