Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Halstead Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Halstead, Kansas 67056
Wednesday, February 5, 2003 17:15 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain shortly after takeoff. Upon return to the airport after a local flight, they landed to the south and taxied back to the departure end of the runway. The instructor stated that the wind was light, but it was still out of the south, as it had been all afternoon. He noted that a soft field technique was employed on the accident takeoff and the full runway length was used. He stated: "Just over half way down [the] runway -- normal acceleration degraded. We were past abort point and due to dangerous road area elected to fly", although the aircraft was "behind the power curve." After liftoff, the instructor stated the aircraft did not level out very much and was at a relatively high pitch attitude. Initially the aircraft climbed to approximately 40 feet above ground level. However, it settled lower and was "bobbling" in and out of ground effect as they approached the end of the runway. The flight instructor reported that, due to an inability to climb, they were forced to fly under a set of power lines at the end of the runway. The power lines ran along a roadway, which bordered the south side of the airport. He stated that they "could not accelerate" and were "unable to climb." The decision was made to cut the power and impact (landing) was made before reaching more obstructions (trees)." Upon exiting the aircraft, he noted that the wind was now from the north. Both pilots indicated that there were no problems with the aircraft or engine, either prior to, or at the time of the accident. The FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, concerning soft field takeoffs, states: "After becoming airborne, the nose should be lowered very gently with the wheels clear of the surface to allow the airplane to accelerate. ... An attempt to climb prematurely or too steeply may cause the airplane to settle back to the surface as a result of losing the benefit of ground effect."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure by the flight crew to execute an aborted takeoff when acceleration degraded and the improper soft field takeoff procedure as flown by the private pilot. Contributing factors were inadequate supervision by the flight instructor and the tailwind encountered on takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/5/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Halstead |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 67056 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380153N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0973033W |
| Event Location Airport | Halstead |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SN05 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 1412 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EWK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1533 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 170 |
| 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) | 13576 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 6 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 39 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA -- Wichita FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5681P |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA064 |
| 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-24-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-753 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 28 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 6225 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David J McAuliffe |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3510 Glory Circle |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bellevue |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68123 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 9K8 |
| Departure City | Kingman |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1635 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SN05 |
| Destination City | Halstead |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2003 6:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 2640 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |