Hampton Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hampton, New Hampshire 03842
Sunday, April 22, 2001 13:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that while landing on runway 20, as the airplane crossed over a tree line, the airplane's airspeed "shot up" momentarily to 105 mph, and then back to 80 mph. After encountering the "heavy turbulence," the pilot elected to perform a go-around; however, as the airplane began to climb, at a "best climb of 65 to 70 mph," the airplane would not ascend, and struck trees located about 50 feet beyond the departure end of the runway. After impacting the trees, the airplane descended, and came to rest on top of a stone wall. According to the Airplane Owners Manual, the obstacle clearance speed, with a 1/4 flap setting, was 67 mph. The winds reported at an airport located about 6 miles to the north of 7B3, at 1255, were from 280 degrees at 18 knots, gusts to 25 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadvertent encounter with a downdraft, which resulted in a collision with trees. A factor related to the accident were the downdraft wind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/22/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1310
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Hampton
Event State NEW HAMPSHIRE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 03842
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 Hampton Airfield
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 7B3
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 93
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1255 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 15
Weather Observation Facility ID PSM
Elevation of weather observation facility 100
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 25
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11832
NTSB Notification Source FAA NEROC
NTSB Notification Date Apr 22 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1440
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 4 2002 9:52AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA FSDO-05 Portland, ME

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3117T
NTSB Number NYC01LA103
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 177
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17700417
Certified Max Gross Weight 2350
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 May 24 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 159
Airframe Hours 4556
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John L. Palmer
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Oxford
Aircraft Owner State ME
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 04270
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 81B
Departure City Oxford
Departure State ME
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1142
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 7B3
Destination City --
Destination State NH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Go-around (VFR)
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 5 2002 2:38PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 20
Runway Length 2100
Runway Width 170
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --