Willow Run Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Belleville, Michigan 48111
Thursday, September 14, 2000 22:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane sustained substantial tail section damage on contact with the ramp surface while standing on the ramp. The flight encountered a shift in cargo on takeoff roll, aborted its takeoff, and taxied back to the ramp where its tail contacted the ramp on engine shutdown. The pilot was uninjured. A FAA inspector's record of interview stated, "According to [the pilot], prior to this incident only three to four straps were used. ... [The pilot] went on to explain that the cargo shifted upon the takeoff roll. ... Upon returning to the ramp he shut down the engine and that's when the aircraft fell on its tail. ... He also said that he was glad that it didn't happen after he had rotated because he was sure that he would have been a fatal accident." A FAA inspector's record of interview stated, "[The witness] stated that when the aircraft sat on its tail, [the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) there] was asked to unload the cargo, which only had one strap holding it down, the 'D' ring had come loose from the floor attachment, and that the cargo was still on rollers under the skid. [The witness] stated that they initially loaded the cargo on the aircraft only, and that the pilot was the one that secured the cargo prior to the incident. After the incident [the FBO] un-loaded the cargo on request of the pilot ... and then was asked to reload the cargo by [the pilot] because the pilot stated something about a hernia. [The witness] stated that the only way they would load the cargo on the airplane again was if they loaded and secured the cargo per their procedures because when [the pilot] secured the cargo he only used one strap and left the load on the rollers. ... [The witness] stated that the plane departed the airport with the cargo about 45 minutes after the accident." The NTSB Materials Laboratory Factual Report number 01-069 stated, "Examination of the plunger revealed that there were portions of the pin in each end of the pin hole. The portion that would have retained the plunger over the body was missing. ... The distance from the lowest point on the plunger pin ... to the underside of the plunger ... was measured and found to be 0.684 inches. The fracture face, [of one of the roll pins], displayed a shiny granular appearance typical of a brittle fracture. ... The side view ... illustrates the plunger in its lowest position with the pin contacting the bottom of the stud body hole.... In this position there is a gap of 0.09 inches between the bottom of the plunger ... and the bottom of the stud body...."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's improper securing of the cargo that led up to the cargo shift during takeoff roll. A factor was the cargo restraint failure.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/14/2000
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2215
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Belleville
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 48111
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 424232N
Event Location Longitude 0803150E
Event Location Airport Willow Run Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID YIP
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 716
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1853 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID YIP
Elevation of weather observation facility 716
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night
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) 54
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 54
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
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) 13235
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 10 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1057
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 23 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office St. Louis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N806BF
NTSB Number CHI00LA312
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
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 208B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 208B-0806
Certified Max Gross Weight 8750
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 AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Aug 29 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 29
Airframe Hours 125
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thunder Aviation Acquisition
Aircraft Owner Street Address 9 E. Loocerman Street
Aircraft Owner City Dover
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19901
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 --
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code YIP
Departure City Belleville
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BFR
Destination City Bedford
Destination State IN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Standing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 14 2003 10:47AM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --