Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Warrenton Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Warrenton, Virginia 20186
Sunday, September 24, 2000 17:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the airplane arrived in the airport area, the pilot observed a thunderstorm "moving in" from the west/northwest, at a distance of about 10 miles. As the pilot turned left base for final approach, about 150-200 feet above the ground, a gust of wind came over the trees and "flipped the airplane over." The airplane descended, impacted trees, and crashed onto the runway. The pilot additionally stated that he was at an indicated airspeed of 50-55mph when he encountered the wind gust and that the stalling speed of the airplane was 37 mph. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3 stated, "After turning onto the base leg, the pilot should start the descent with reduced power and an airspeed of approximately 1.4 Vso." FAA Advisory Circular AC 61-67B stated, Stall and Spin Awareness Training, "Turbulence can cause an aircraft to stall at a significantly higher airspeed than in stable conditions. A vertical gust or windshear can cause a sudden change in the relative wind, and result in an abrupt increase in angle of attack. Although a gust may not be maintained long enough for a stall to develop, the aircraft may stall while the pilot is attempting to control the flightpath, particularly during an approach in gusty conditions. When flying in moderate to severe turbulence or strong crosswinds, a higher than normal approach speed should be maintained. In cruise flight in moderate or severe turbulence, an airspeed well above the indicated stall speed and below maneuvering speed should be used." The winds recorded at a nearby airport, about the time of the accident were from 350 degrees at 6 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate airspeed which resulted in the inadvertent stall. A factor related to the accident was the gusting wind condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/24/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | WARRENTON |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20186 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | WARRENTON AIRPARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 9W0 |
| 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 | 420 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1723 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CJR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 313 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10034 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Daily FAA run |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 25 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 17 2001 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N91337 |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA266 |
| 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 | Morrison |
| Aircraft Model | RANS-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | RANS-12 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1292361 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 950 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 10 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 155 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES R. BIRNBAUM |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | MANASSAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20110 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 3VA3 |
| Departure City | BEALTON |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1640 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 9W0 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 6 2001 4:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |