Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Empire Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Empire, Michigan 49630
Wednesday, July 9, 2003 19:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted a cherry-tree orchard during an attempted takeoff. The pilot reported that prior to the takeoff he had taxied the airplane to the end of runway 35 (2,600 feet by 50 feet, dry asphalt) to complete an engine run-up check. The pilot stated that no anomalies were noticed during the engine run-up and that he subsequently set the wing flaps to 10-degrees prior to departing. The pilot reported that the engine rpm was accelerated and the manifold pressure was set to 27 inches-of-mercury. The pilot stated the airplane "wasn't getting lift" during the takeoff roll, so he increased engine power to the maximum. The pilot reported after the airplane became airborne the stall warning horn sounded and he responded by lowering the airplane's nose, just clearing a pine tree in the process. The pilot stated he attempted to climb, but the stall warning horn sounded again and the airplane subsequently impacted the orchard near the departure end of the runway. The aircraft's takeoff checklist states that a normal takeoff is to be completed with full engine power and 20-degrees of wing flaps. The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented if he "aborted takeoff instead of adding power."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to abort the takeoff. A contributing factor to the accident included the pilot not utilizing all available engine power during the entire takeoff. Additional factors were the improper wing flap setting and the cherry-tree orchard.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1950 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Empire |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49630 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 444715N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0860015W |
| Event Location Airport | Empire Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Y87 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.125 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 350 |
| Airport Elevation | 944 |
| 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) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TVC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 624 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 105 |
| 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) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1683 |
| 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) | 16007 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 9 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2027 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fedral Aviation Administration Grand Rapids FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N95890 |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA205 |
| 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 | 182Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18266669 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 4 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38.6 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TM2, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6388 W 84th Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Arvada |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80003 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | Y87 |
| Departure City | Empire |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 4M0 |
| Destination City | Lake Ann |
| Destination State | MI |
| 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 | Jun 23 2004 8:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | 2600 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |