Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greenville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greenville, Pennsylvania 16125
Saturday, December 12, 1998 15:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness reported that the student pilot had been in the traffic pattern for 15 - 20 minutes during his second flight of the day. A second witness, who was in the pattern at the time of the accident, reported seeing the aircraft touch down in a grassy landing area to the right of, and parallel to, paved runway 15. It then veered left, crossed runway 15, and continued towards a large briar patch and an intersecting turf runway, during which the aircraft entered a steep, climbing left turn. The witness reported that he then observed the aircraft nose drop, and 'go over.' A third (ground) witness reported seeing the aircraft cross over the briar patch and make a climbing left turn which was described as 'not excessively steep', and with the angle of bank of at least 25 degrees. This was followed by the aircraft leveling off, and then impacting trees. This witness reported the winds as calm. On site examination revealed that the aircraft first encountered trees approximately 10 feet below the 70 foot high tops, and the wreckage distribution progressed toward 030 degrees magnetic to ground impact. There was no evidence of pre-impact control or engine malfunction. The student pilot had 109 total flight hours. He had some initial flight training in 1944, then began flying again in 1995.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during touch-and-go landing, and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance. A factor was the tree.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/12/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | GREENVILLE |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16125 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GREENVILLE MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4G1 |
| 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 | 1202 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | YNG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 23000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 14000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1350 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 12 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43778 |
| NTSB Number | NYC99FA037 |
| 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 | Taylorcraft |
| Aircraft Model | BC12-D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BC12-D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7437 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 30 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 3317 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT W. NOEL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 439 SUNNYSIDE AVENUE |
| Aircraft Owner City | MEADVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 16335 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 4G1 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1510 |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| 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 | 15 |
| Runway Length | 1000 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |