Westmoreland Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Shelter Island, New York 11964
Thursday, June 20, 2002 9:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The twin engine tail-wheeled homebuilt airplane was departing a private grass strip. The pilot said that as the airplane lifted off the runway, it angled to left. He attempted to correct; however, the airplane banked to the right and made a sharp right turn. The pilot aborted the takeoff; however, the airplane settled to the ground off the side of the runway, and struck trees. The pilot added that the winds were calm at the time of the accident. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions. The pilot reported 295 hours of total flight experience, which included about 27 hours in multi-engine airplanes, all in make and model.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff, which resulted in a collision with trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/20/2002
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Shelter Island
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 11964
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 410400N
Event Location Longitude 0722058W
Event Location Airport Westmoreland
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 49NY
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 24
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 850 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID HTO
Elevation of weather observation facility 56
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1200
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) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.53
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) 12837
NTSB Notification Source Farmingdale FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jun 25 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 4:20PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Farmingdale

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N61450
NTSB Number NYC02LA124
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 Hunter
Aircraft Model A-28 Victor
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number SA-28-001
Certified Max Gross Weight 2200
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 250
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Spectrum Aircraft Corp.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Sebring
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33870
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Ingo Pfotenhauer
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Fort Lauderdale
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33316
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 49NY
Departure City Shelter Island
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 900
Departure Time Zone EDT
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 Nov 29 2002 4:23PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 1400
Runway Width 200
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --