Rosencrans Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Joseph, Missouri 64503
Thursday, June 13, 2002 19:50 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane sustained substantial damage when it contacted terrain when the airplane landed perpendicular to the runway. The witness reported the airplane almost stalled during takeoff, and then banked hard left and went right down when it was in position for a base leg turn. The inspection of the airplane revealed the aircraft contacted the ground near the approach end of the runway 17 on a base leg heading, or perpendicular to the runway. The pilot was unable to explain why he touched down perpendicular to the runway. The pilot reported, "I made a mistake. That accident was my fault. No call for what I did. No call for the landing. Should have been going down [the] runway." He reported that he could not remember many of the details concerning the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to attain proper alignment with the runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/13/2002
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1950
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City St. Joseph
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 64503
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 394619N
Event Location Longitude 0945434W
Event Location Airport Rosencrans Memorial
Event Location Nearest Airport ID STJ
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 826
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1953 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID STJ
Elevation of weather observation facility 826
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
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) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.93
Density Altitude (feet) 1957
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KSTJ 140053Z AUTO 32009KT 10SM CLR 23/13 A
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) 13304
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 13 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2312
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration MKC FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2532N
NTSB Number CHI02LA164
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-38-112
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 38-79A0902
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 May 2 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 14
Airframe Hours 9043
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jack W. Martin
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2421 Walnut St.
Aircraft Owner City St. Joseph
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 64503
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 No
Departure Airport Code STJ
Departure City St. Joseph
Departure State MO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1940
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code STJ
Destination City St. Joseph
Destination State MO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 27 2003 8:50AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 8059
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --