Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Causey Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Liberty, North Carolina 27298
Thursday, February 7, 1991 6:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
IMMEDIATELY AFTER A NIGHT TAKEOFF IN FOGGY CONDITIONS, THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES 1560 FT FROM THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY. WITNESSES REPORTED THE ENGINES SOUNDED NORMAL & 'IN SYNC.' THE LANDING GEAR WAS RETRACTED. THE VISIBILITY WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 1/2 MI WITH PATCHY GROUND FOG. THE PILOT'S LOGBOOK SHOWED 3 FLIGHTS IN A PIPER PA-23 DURING 1990 FOR A TOTAL TIME OF 5.5 HRS, THE LAST OF WHICH WAS IN JUNE OF 1990. HOWEVER, THE PILOT RECEIVED A 1-HR FAMILIARIZATION FLIGHT IN THE AIRPLANE 3 DAYS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN A POSITIVE RATE-OF-CLIMB AFTER LIFT-OFF. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, LOW CEILING, FOG, AND THE PILOT'S LIMITED EXPERIENCE IN A PIPER PA-23.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/7/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 640 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LIBERTY |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27298 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CAUSEY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2A5 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 725 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 650 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GS0 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 926 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| 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) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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) | 1469 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 44261 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 9:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6247Y |
| NTSB Number | ATL91FA051 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-3484 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 19 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 165 |
| Airframe Hours | 5712 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SHAMROCK GRAVURE PRODUCTS, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 16247 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GREENSBORO |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27416 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SHAMROCK GRAVURE PRODUCTS, INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 16247 |
| Operator City | GREENSBORO |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 27416 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 640 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GSO |
| Destination City | GREENSBORO |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 2 |
| Runway Length | 3005 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |