Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Valley Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Medford, New Jersey 08055
Tuesady, July 10, 2001 12:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to a witness, the airplane was observed making a steep turn to a right base. During the turn, the airplane's tail abruptly went up, and the airplane entered a 2 1/2 spin to the right prior to impacting the ground. There was no evidence of a pre-existing mechanical failure or malfunction. According to the FAA publication Airplane Flying Handbook, section on accelerated stalls and cross control stalls, ...Stalls which result from abrupt maneuvers tend to be more rapid, or severe, than the unaccelerated stalls, and because they occur at higher-than-normal airspeeds, they may be unexpected by an inexperienced pilot. Failure to take immediate steps toward recovery when an accelerated stall occurs may result in a complete loss of flight control, notably, power-on spins... a cross control stall...is most apt to occur during a poorly planned and executed base-to-final approach turn...the airplane often stalls with little warning. The nose may pitch down, the inside wing may suddenly drop and the airplane may continue to roll to an inverted position...It is imperative that this type of stall not occur during an actual approach to a landing since recovery may be impossible prior to ground contact due to the low altitude...."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper use of the flight controls while turning to base, which resulted in a stall/spin and subsequent impact with the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1258 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Medford |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08055 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395654N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0744957W |
| Event Location Airport | South Valley Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VAY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 251 |
| Airport Elevation | 53 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 262 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 133 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.74 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2486 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11528 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EASTERN REGIONAL OPS CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 10 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2002 1:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9616U |
| NTSB Number | NYC01FA169 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman American |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1C0074 |
| 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 4 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84 |
| Airframe Hours | 3531 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Waldo S. Steen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1261 Pritchard Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Weatherford |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76087 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hortman Aviation Services |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 9800 Ashton Road @ Grant Ave |
| Operator City | Philadelphia |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19114 |
| 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 | PNE |
| Departure City | Philadelphia |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | VAY |
| Destination City | Medford |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - turn to base |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 28 2002 10:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 3911 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |