Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Griffing Sandusky Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sandusky, Ohio 43420
Sunday, July 20, 2003 10:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was on final approach to a 3,559-foot-long, 60-foot-wide, asphalt runway, when the pilot observed a twin-engine airplane on a taxiway near the runway. The pilot was not certain if the airplane was going to utilize the runway, and elected to go-around. The pilot pushed the throttle full-forward and kept his right hand on the power quadrant. During the climb out, the engine began to sputter and lose power. The pilot looked down at the power quadrant and noticed that the engine mixture control was pulled back. He pushed mixture control in and lowered the airplane's nose to avoid a stall; however, the airplane struck trees about 1/2 mile beyond the departure end of the runway. Examination of the engine and associated controls did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain the engine mixture control during the go-around, which resulted in a loss of power, and in-flight collision with trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sandusky |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 43420 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823908W |
| Event Location Airport | GRIFFING SANDUSKY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SKY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 580 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LPR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 793 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| 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) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16159 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB CC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 20 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| 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 | Cleveland |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8199D |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA163 |
| 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-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8290115 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 152 |
| Airframe Hours | 8461 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Back Forty Flying Club Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Wayne |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46818 |
| 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 | FWA |
| Departure City | FORT WAYNE |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SKY |
| Destination City | Sandusky |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2004 1:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 3559 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |