None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lanconia, New Hampshire 03253
Saturday, April 15, 2000 14:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane took off towards the south, climbed to 50-100 feet, just over the tree line, and began a circling turn to the right. The airplane completed 360 degrees of the turn, and was 10-15 degrees nose high, when the nose dropped and the airplane descended at a 60 degree nose down attitude. Examination of the engine did not reveal any mechanical deficiencies. Examination of the propeller revealed that one blade was broken aft in the opposite direction of rotation, and one blade was broken straight back towards the engine. A sample of fuel was drained from the airplane's fuel strainer bowl after the accident; it was green in color, cloudy, and resembled 'muddy water.' The fuel also contained unidentified debris. The airplane was last fueled with 9 gallons of 100LL aviation gasoline on October 17, 1999, and there was no record of it being flown since that date.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/15/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City LANCONIA
Event State NEW HAMPSHIRE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 03253
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport NONE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
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 545
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1355 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID LCI
Elevation of weather observation facility 545
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 23
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1395
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 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 698
NTSB Notification Source FAA - New England Region
NTSB Notification Date Apr 15 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1510
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2001 4:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N42383
NTSB Number NYC00LA113
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 Piper
Aircraft Model J3C-65
Aircraft Series Identifier J3C-65
Aircraft Serial Number 14640
Certified Max Gross Weight 1100
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 Sep 6 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3
Airframe Hours 2828
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name THOMAS VOLPE
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City LANCONIA
Aircraft Owner State NH
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 03246
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 NONE
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone EDT
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 Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2001 4:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 1400
Runway Width 500
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --