Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Reedsburg Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reedsburg, Wisconsin 53958
Sunday, December 9, 2001 11:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with a runway end identifier light control box following a loss of control on takeoff. The pilot reported that his seat slid back on takeoff and because the nose of the airplane was high, his forward visibility was limited. The pilot reported he felt a couple of "bumps". He then was able to slide the seat forward and abort the takeoff. The pilot reported that he taxied back to the runway and departed for Kenosha. He reported the airplane seemed to lack power during the flight. The pilot reported that he was trying to attach a hand held GPS unit to his leg with a cable when the seat slid back. He reported that the cable most likely became attached to the seat adjustment lever and this resulted in the lever being moved, and the seat sliding back. Damage to the airplane included buckling and puncture damage to the lower fuselage, engine cowling, and left horizontal stabilizer, firewall damage, the tip of one propeller was missing and the other propeller tip was damaged, and a section of the exhaust system was crushed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot inadvertently released the seat adjustment mechanism which resulted in the seat sliding back during takeoff, and his subsequent failure to maintain control of the airplane. A factor associated with the accident was the runway light control box, which the airplane contacted.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/9/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Reedsburg |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53958 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Reedsburg Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | C35 |
| 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 | 907 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 915 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LNR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 717 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.22 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -866 |
| 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) | 12133 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 17 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1217 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2002 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Milwaukee, WI FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4303Q |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA053 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1720203 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Burton H. Kleinman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 570 Happ Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Northfield |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60093 |
| 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 | C35 |
| Departure City | Reedsburg |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Unknown |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 26 2002 1:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 4840 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |