Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South Haven, Minnesota 55382
Sunday, March 4, 2001 13:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was attempting a takeoff from a snow-covered frozen lake. According to the pilot's written statement, "Taking off lake on skis. Snow was sticky - take off run was long - got airborne - couldn't climb above approaching trees - elected to turn left and land on lake." The pilot reported, "Hit the snow with the left wing tip - couldn't straighten flight path - ski on right hit snow with side load & ripped off under plane with the whole gear[.]" The pilot stated that the airplane came to rest approximately 120-feet from where the wingtip impacted terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance from the terrain during the maneuver to avoid the tree line. Factors to the accident were the diminished aircraft handling, the pilot's maneuver to avoid the tree line, the unsuitable terrain for takeoff selected by the pilot, the snow covered lake, and the tree line.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/4/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | South Haven |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55382 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 26 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1024 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1293 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KSTC 041953Z AUTO 31009KT 10SM CLR M04/M13 A3020 R |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10657 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 5 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 522 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 9 2001 3:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA, Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2577D |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA098 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 170B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20729 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 4091 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Air Shipp LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 21205 Floral Bay Drive North |
| Aircraft Owner City | Forrest Lake |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55025 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | South Haven |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Forest Lake |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 18 2001 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |