Albert Whitted Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
Sunday, August 20, 2000 11:12 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was flying the airplane from the front seat when it was placard by the FAA for solo flight in the rear seat only. The pilot dropped off his banner in the sod area adjacent to the runway and side stepped to the left landing on the runway. The tail of the airplane came up; he applied throttle, aft stick, and his body weight shifted forward. He inadvertently applied brakes, experienced a loss of directional control, and subsequent nose over of the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper judgment not to sit in the pilot's seat (rear seat) and improper use of brakes on landing roll resulting in a loss of directional control and subsequent nose over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/20/2000
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1112
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City ST. PETERSBURG
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33701
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport ALBERT WHITTED MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SPG
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 8
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1115 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SPG
Elevation of weather observation facility 8
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 24
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
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) 386
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communications Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 20 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N70673
NTSB Number MIA00LA243
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 J3-C65
Aircraft Series Identifier J3-C65
Aircraft Serial Number 17694
Certified Max Gross Weight 1250
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 28 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 44
Airframe Hours 12549
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name THOMAS W. MERRIFIELD
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4178 49TH AVENUE SOUTH
Aircraft Owner City ST. PETERSBURG
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33711
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1000
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 --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 2864
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --