Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Washington Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marthasville, Missouri 63357
Tuesady, April 23, 2002 15:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instructional flight impacted terrain in a nose down attitude following an initial climb from a touch and go landing. A witness reported seeing the landing gear retract when the airplane was approximately 3-4 feet above the runway. The airplane then descended and the propeller struck the runway. Propeller slash marks were found down the departing runway. Examination of the propeller revealed that the propeller tips were gouged and the landing gear handle was in the gear up position. The landing gear handle and landing gear were in the retracted position. Continuity of the landing gear electrical system was confirmed. Flight control continuity was also confirmed. A pilot who received instruction from the certified flight instructor (CFI) involved in the accident reported that the CFI would have him retract the landing gear prior to reaching a best angle or best rate of climb speed as stipulated in the airplane handbook.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate supervision and the stall encountered by the certified flight instructor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/23/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1510 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Marthasville |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63357 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Washington Memorial |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | M06 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 146 |
| Airport Elevation | 487 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1454 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 75 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 488 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13146 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 23 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1545 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:34PM |
| 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 | N5388R |
| NTSB Number | CHI02FA113 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172RG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172RG0059 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 61.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 5506.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thunder Aviation Acquisitions, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 615 South Dupont Highway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dover |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19901 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Thunder Aviation, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 18500 Edison Avenue |
| Operator City | Chesterfield |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63005 |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MO6 |
| Departure City | Marthasville |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1346 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| 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 | Feb 13 2003 3:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 3281 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |