Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Falmouth Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Falmouth, Massachusetts 02540
Thursday, April 5, 2001 13:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
When the pilot departed the airport, the wind was favoring runway 25. About 90 minutes later, the pilot returned to the airport. Before landing, he monitored the automated terminal information service (ATIS) of another airport, located on an island about 13 miles south. According to the pilot, that ATIS information indicated a direct crosswind for runway 25. The pilot aborted his first landing attempt because he was too fast. During the second landing attempt, the airplane touched down, but a gust of wind pushed the empennage to the left. The airplane departed the right side of the runway and struck a tree. The pilot added that before landing, the windsock near the trees appeared "limp," but he did not recall the position of the windsock on top of a hangar. However, after the accident, the pilot observed the windsock on top of the hanger, and the winds were favoring runway 07. Additionally, the ATIS information at an airport located about 13 miles to the east, indicated a quartering tailwind of 13 to 19 knots. The pilot stated that in retrospect he should have landing on runway 07.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing. Factors were the pilot's inadequate weather evaluation and a tailwind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/5/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Falmouth |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02540 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Falmouth Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 5B6 |
| 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 | 43 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1256 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HYA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 55 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10766 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 5 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2001 9:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Bedford, MA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N980C |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA093 |
| 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 | Stinson |
| Aircraft Model | 108-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3980 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Aug 14 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 2092 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Walter Volz |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Falmouth |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02536 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 1B2 |
| Departure City | Edgartown |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 5B6 |
| Destination City | Falmouth |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2001 1:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 2300 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |