Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Surprise, Arizona 85374
Monday, November 29, 1999 14:05 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot is chief pilot for a flight school, and reported that a renter pilot had made an emergency landing in a cow pasture in the accident airplane after running out of fuel. The airplane sat in the field unattended over the weekend. The pilot and one of the school's mechanics assessed the damage; none was found. The pilot planned to transport the airplane back to the airport. He put in fuel and performed a preflight and control check with no noted discrepancies. The pilot and the mechanic then moved the airplane to a rough dirt road; the pilot measured the available takeoff distance about 1,500 feet. He reported that the takeoff and initial climb out seemed normal, but the airplane then started turning left. The pilot applied right rudder and aileron but was not able to stop the turn. His airspeed was in the 50-knot range, but about 35 to 40 feet agl, the airplane began to settle while still in an 18- to 20-degree left bank. The stall warning indicator did not activate at any time. The left wing tip impacted the ground, followed by the nose of the airplane. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot stated that the winds alternated from calm to light and variable at 1 to 2 knots at the time of the accident. A postcrash examination revealed that the flaps, ailerons, and rudders operated normally. No mechanical discrepancies were found with any airframe or engine system.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to attain and maintain an adequate airspeed during takeoff from a short and unimproved dirt road, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush condition and impact with the ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/29/1999
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1405
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City SURPRISE
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85374
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1350 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 130
Weather Observation Facility ID GEU
Elevation of weather observation facility 1066
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
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) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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 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) 1931
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 29 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record May 25 2001 4:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N48WT
NTSB Number LAX00LA044
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 15283366
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 24 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 9510
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CHASEN CORPORATION
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6801 N. GLEN HARBOR BLVD, #100
Aircraft Owner City GLENDALE
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85307
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name THE GLOBAL GROUP INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 6801 N. GLEN HARBOR BLVD, #200
Operator City GLENDALE
Operator State AZ
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 85307
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code GEU
Destination City GLENDALE
Destination State AZ
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 24 2001 8:43AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --