Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gladwin Settel Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gladwin, Michigan 48624
Saturday, July 14, 2001 9:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot, who was seated in the right seat, reported they flew into the airport to attend a pancake breakfast. He reported that after landing a flagman directed them to a parking spot where they came to a complete stop. He reported that he knew they were going to need fuel prior to departing so he opened the door and exited the airplane onto the wing to look for a fuel truck. The pilot reported the propeller was still turning when he exited the airplane. He reported, "While standing on the wing of the parked aircraft, I slipped and went forward and threw up my left arm to protect instinctively myself and the result is that I ended up on the ground with a broken left arm and a cut on my left arm." The pilot rated passenger in the left seat reported, "[The pilot] wanted to get fuel. I suggested we shut the engine down and get fuel after breakfast. [The pilot] pulled the throttle back to a low idle, said leave it running I'll catch that guy (the person that parked us). [The pilot] got out of the plane stepped to the front of the wing apparently slipped. I saw him going off the front of the wing. I immediately pulled the mixture control off, shutting down the engine. [The pilot] was apparently struck by the propeller causing injury to his left arm."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's poor decision to exit the airplane onto the wing while the propeller was running.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/14/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gladwin |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48624 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Gladwin Settel Memorial |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GDW |
| 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 | 776 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11045 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 16 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1232 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 28 2001 7:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, MI FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8253A |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA268 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29-8190013 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 9 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 3291 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert Witkop |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 522 East Front Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Traverse City |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49686 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TVC |
| Departure City | Traverse City |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GDW |
| Destination City | Gladwin |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 8 2001 8:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |