Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Athens Ben Epps Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Athens, Georgia 30601
Sunday, October 28, 2001 18:27 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot landed the airplane, taxied to the fixed base operator, and shut down the engine. About 40 minutes later he re-started the engine, and started to taxi to runway 27. This was his first time at this airport, he landed during daylight and taxied for takeoff during darkness. The pilot was cleared to the hold short of runway 27, prior to getting clearance for takeoff. After getting clearance for takeoff, the PIC turned to the right placing him on a parallel taxiway that leads to runway 27, and immediately went to full power, unaware that he was on the taxiway and not on runway 27. The tower made several attempts to stop the pilot before the airplane crossed the approach end of runway 27. After departing the hard surface the airplane went into a grassy area, down a 40 foot drop off, coming to rest inverted. The pilot admitted to have erred in judgment causing this accident. The pilot received his private pilot rating April 2001. He had a total of 117 hours in all aircraft, of which 8 hours were of night operations.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot misjudged the ailment of the airplane on the active runway, inadvertently taking off from a parallel taxiway, and subsequently departing the hard surface into a 40 foot drop off. A factor in this accident was a dark night, and the pilot's total experience in night operations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/28/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1827 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ATHENS |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30601 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 335654N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0831934W |
| Event Location Airport | Athens Ben Epps |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AHN |
| 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 | 808 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAHN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 808 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.47 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11877 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE REG COM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 28 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1945 |
| 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 | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N24697 |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA013 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | C23 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | M-1424 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Jul 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 2980 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James E. Dampier |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 125 Pineridge Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Leesburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 31763 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AHN |
| Departure City | ATHENS |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1827 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 16J |
| Destination City | Dawson |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - to takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2002 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 5522 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |