Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dekalb City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Auburn, Indiana 46706
Wednesday, August 10, 1988 4:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE INSTRUMENT RATED PVT PLT FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN FOR A FLT FROM AN UNCONTROLLED ARPT AT NIGHT. THE ARPT MANAGER WAS AWAKENED BY THE SOUND OF THE ACFT STARTING & TAXIING. HE NOTED THAT THE RWY LIGHTS WERE ON, BUT WERE OBSCURED BY DENSE FOG. HIS HOUSE WAS APRX 150 FT FROM THE RWY. AT 0445 EST, THE PLT OBTAINED A CLNC TO TAKEOFF WITH A VOID TIME OF 0500 EST. WHEN THE VOID TIME HAD PASSED & THE PLT HAD NOT CONTACTED ATC, ATC PSNL CONTACTED THE ARPT MANAGER. THE ARPT MANAGER CHECKED THE HANGAR AREA & FOUND THE ACFT HAD DEPARTED. A SEARCH WAS INITIATED, BUT IT WAS HAMPERED BY DENSE FOG. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT WAS FOUND WHERE IT HAD CRASHED ABOUT 700 FT SOUTHWEST FROM THE DEP END OF RWY 27. INITIAL IMPACT OCCURRED WITH A 40 FT TREE WHILE THE ACFT WAS ON A HEADING OF 258 DEG. AFTER TRAVELING ABOUT 200 FT, IT HIT ANOTHER TREE ABOUT 26 FT ABOVE THE GROUND, THEN CRASHED TO THE GROUND. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT WAS FOUND, THOUGH IT WAS DESTROYED BY IMPACT & FIRE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FLIGHT KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 450 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | AUBURN |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46706 |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DEKALB CITY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 07C |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 883 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 450 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 196 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FWA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 801 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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 | Moderate |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2232 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 10 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38896 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3828K |
| NTSB Number | CHI88FA198 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-23741 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 5 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 2863 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SPECIAL TRUCKS, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5040 HOEVEL ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | FT. WAYNE |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | MARK SHERBINSKI |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5040 HOEVEL RD. |
| Operator City | FORT WAYNE |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 46806 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 07C |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OSH |
| Destination City | OSHKOSH |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 3375 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |