Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Thomaston-Upson County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Thomaston, Georgia 30286
Monday, June 3, 2002 17:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A Piper ground-looped during a landing at a private airport in Thomaston, Georgia. The airplane ground-looped, and the left wing struck the ground. The pilot continued the flight and returned to Griffin. During the post-flight examination of the airplane, the pilot discovered that the left wing assembly had sustained structural damage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the pilot-in-command to maintain directional control on landing, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/3/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Thomaston |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30286 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325718N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0841551W |
| Event Location Airport | Thomaston-Upson County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KOPN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 796 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 349 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1026 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 42 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12273 |
| NTSB Notification Source | OPERATOR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 3 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 20 2002 10:08AM |
| 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 | N8680D |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA117 |
| 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-18A-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-6284 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 2 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 9278 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Starka Ventures |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3288 Hampton Ridge Dr NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | Marietta |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30066 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Barbara's Banners |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 465 Patton Rd |
| Operator City | Griffin |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30224 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 8GA6 |
| Departure City | Griffin |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KOPN |
| Destination City | Thomaston |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2002 12:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 5001 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |