Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Gradolph Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Petersburg, Michigan 49270
Friday, September 29, 2000 15:04 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted corn immediately after takeoff from a grass runway and was destroyed by a post impact fire. The pilot said he was departing on runway 27 using a short field takeoff procedure. He said that the wind was 270 degrees at 5-7 knots. He said that, during the takeoff, the airplane "settled back on down. He said that the airplane became airborne again but couldn't clear the corn crop at the end of the runway. The pilot said that the grass on the west end of the runway was about 8 inches high. In his written report, the pilot listed no mechanical malfunction of the aircraft. A postaccident examination of the aircraft failed to reveal any preexisting anomalies. The inspector also noted that the grass on the runway was about 3 inches high and the grass was "very damp but firm." A weather report for a reporting station located about 13 nautical miles and 85 degrees magnetic was reporting winds, about 20 minutes after the accident, as 130 degrees at 3 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilots failure to abort the takeoff and obtain/maintain clearance from the corn crop. Factors were the tall, wet, grass runway, and the corn crop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1504 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | PETERSBURG |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49270 |
| 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 | GRADOLPH FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 88G |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 673 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1521 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 85 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TTF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 616 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| 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) | 63 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 43 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10785 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 29 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2105 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2001 10:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N33117 |
| NTSB Number | CHI00LA310 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7500014 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 15 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EATON PROFESSIONALS, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 315 S. RIVER |
| Aircraft Owner City | EATON RAPIDS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48827 |
| 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 | 88G |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1504 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | EATON RAPIDS |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 4 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2380 |
| Runway Width | 110 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |