St Petersburg/Clearwater Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Clearwater, Florida 33755
Sunday, June 1, 2003 10:32 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the takeoff roll the airplane started to yaw to the left. The pilot applied right rudder, but the airplane continued to the left, departed the runway and impacted with an airport sign. An examination of the brakes and the rudder cables revealed no discrepancies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll, which resulted in the airplane departing the runway, and impacting with trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/1/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1032
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Clearwater
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33755
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 275438N
Event Location Longitude 0824124W
Event Location Airport ST PETERSBURG/CLEARWATER INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PIE
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 210
Airport Elevation 11
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KPIE
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
Density Altitude (feet) 1638
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14640
NTSB Notification Source TAMPA FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jun 2 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 30 2003 8:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Tampa FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9758G
NTSB Number MIA03LA116
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17273635
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 22 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15
Airframe Hours 7371
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Four Fox Air Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 320 12th Ave.
Aircraft Owner City Indian Rocks Beach
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Michael Shapiro
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1994 Fishermens Bnd.
Operator City Palm Harbor
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 34685
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 PIE
Departure City ST PETERSBURG/C
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1032
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Clearwater
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 10 2003 8:40AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22
Runway Length 5500
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --