Plymouth Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360
Friday, June 15, 2001 19:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot routinely practiced landings on the 2,000-foot long, 200-foot wide grass strip. A taxiway was located perpendicular to the grass strip, and was elevated slightly higher than the upwind grass area where the airplane normally touched down. The pilot reported that she performed several landings on the day of the accident. During the last landing, she "came in low," and the main landing gear impacted a runway sign. The airplane came to an abrupt stop in a nose-low attitude. The pilot reported that when the airplane impacted the runway sign, she was looking to the side of the airplane to maintain clearance from the taxiway. She stated she never saw the runway sign, and reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. The pilot reported 146 hours of total flight experience, 30 hours of which were in the accident airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain altitude during an approach and inadequate visual lookout, which resulted in a collision with a runway sign.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/15/2001
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1915
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Plymouth
Event State MASSACHUSETTS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 02360
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 415454N
Event Location Longitude 0704300W
Event Location Airport Plymouth Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PYM
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 149
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1852 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID PYM
Elevation of weather observation facility 149
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
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) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) 1219
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13365
NTSB Notification Source New England Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Jun 15 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2045
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Bedford FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N131HH
NTSB Number IAD01LA069
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 Bucker Jungmann
Aircraft Model C.A.S.A. 1.131
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number E3B-396
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Scott Hess/LuAnn Reeb
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Plymouth
Aircraft Owner State MA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 02360
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Lu Ann Reeb
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Dedham
Operator State MA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 02026
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 PYM
Departure City Plymouth
Departure State MA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1900
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code PYM
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 5 2002 9:54AM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 2000
Runway Width 200
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --