Upshur County Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Buckhannon, West Virginia 26201
Sunday, October 21, 2001 14:50 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After two unsuccessful attempts to land on runway 29, due to crosswind conditions, the student pilot attempted a third landing. The airplane touched down about 400-600 feet beyond the runway threshold, and departed the right side of the runway onto the grass. The student pilot applied full power and attempted to abort the landing; however, when he raised the nose of the airplane, the stall warning horn sounded. The student pilot realized that he would not be able to climb over an embankment and aborted the takeoff. The airplane continued into the embankment, sheared off the nose gear, and came to rest upright. The pilot estimated the wind from 270 degrees at 20 knots, gusts to 25 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing. A factor related to the accident were the gusting wind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/21/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1450
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Buckhannon
Event State WEST VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 26201
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Upshur County Regional Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID W22
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 1635
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1451 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 130
Weather Observation Facility ID EKN
Elevation of weather observation facility 1987
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
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) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.16
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) 11889
NTSB Notification Source FAA FSDO-09 Charleston, WV
NTSB Notification Date Oct 23 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1301
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 18 2002 10:15AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FSDO-09 Charleston, WV

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5725W
NTSB Number NYC02LA016
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-160
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-1299
Certified Max Gross Weight 2325
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 Jan 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 105
Airframe Hours 5629
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Razair, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2711 Centerville Rd.
Aircraft Owner City Willmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19808
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code W22
Departure City Buckhannon
Departure State WV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CMH
Destination City Columbus
Destination State OH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 15 2002 4:12PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --