Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mercer County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bluefield, West Virginia 24701
Thursday, February 9, 1984 6:04 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PLT BEGAN HIS TAKEOFF DURING THE HOURS OF DARKNESS, BUT IN VMC WX. HE STATED THAT DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL AT ABOUT 65 TO 75 KTS JUST PRIOR TO ROTATION, THE LANDING LIGHT EXTINGUISHED. PLT STATED THAT 2 TO 3 SECONDS LATER, HE ROTATED & DUE TO THE LONG NOSE OF THE ACFT, HE LOST SIGHT OF THE RWY LIGHTS. HE CHECKED THE INSTRUMENTS TO KEEP THE ACFT IN A PROPER CLIMB, BUT SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE LEFT WING HIT THE TOP OF A TALL TREE. THE PLT'S FATHER SAID HE OBSERVED THE ACFT ENTERING A LEFT TURN AFTER LIFT-OFF, THEN HE LOST SIGHT OF THE PLANE. THE ONLY SURVIVING PASSENGER SAID THE ENG SOUND REMAINED CONSTANT, BUT THE ACFT VEERED LEFT AFTER LIFT-OFF. MOMENTS LATER, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES, CRASHED & BURNED. INITIAL IMPACT OCCURRED ON A HEADING OF 030 DEG, ABOUT 500 FT LEFT OF THE RWY. NO PREIMPACT/PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND. THE PLT HAD BEEN TREATED FOR GLAUCOMA & HAD BEEN DENIED A 3RD CLASS MEDICAL CERTIFICATE ON 1/31/84, AWAITING AN EYE EVALUATION. ARPT ELEV 2857 FT; CRASH SITE ELEV APRX 2400 FT
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/9/1984 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 604 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BLUEFIELD |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24701 |
| Event Date Year | 1984 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MERCER COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BFL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 30 |
| Airport Elevation | 2857 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 555 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2857 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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) | 2700 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 978 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 24719 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N22457 |
| NTSB Number | ATL84FA093 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32RT-300T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32RT-30 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7887262 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 8 1984 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 796 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MIMEX COMPANY, INC. & DEAN CO. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 48 |
| Aircraft Owner City | PRINCETON |
| Aircraft Owner State | WV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24740 |
| 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 | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 604 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CRW |
| Destination City | CHARLESTON |
| Destination State | WV |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 5 |
| Runway Length | 4743 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |