Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Galion Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Galion, Ohio 44833
Saturday, August 2, 2003 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated commercial pilot obtained a weather briefing 2-hours before departing on a short VFR cross country flight. According to the weather briefer, there was the potential for rain and thunderstorms along the pilot's intended route of flight. The pilot's wife, a passenger who sat in the front right seat, said they did not encounter any weather until they arrived at their destination. The rain began hitting the windshield so hard, that it was hard to hear the air traffic controller. The pilot made one attempt to land, but was unable to see out of the front windshield due to the heavy rain, and elected to go-around. He pushed the throttles full forward, and attempted to climb, but stated that the airplane would not climb. A witness, a flight instructor with over 17,000 of flight time, saw the airplane over the runway, in a climb. Shortly after, the weather at the airport became intense with winds gusting to 50 miles per hour, lightning, heavy rain, and hail. The witness said he thought the storm would have produced a tornado.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper in-flight decision making and flight into known adverse weather conditions while maneuvering to land. Also causal was the pilot's failure to regard the pre-flight weather briefing. Factors were the thunderstorm, rain, wind gusts and hail.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | GALION |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 44833 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404407N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824307W |
| Event Location Airport | Galion Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GQQ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 190 |
| Airport Elevation | 1224 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1452 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1297 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16093 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Great Lakes Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| 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 | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | CLEVELAND FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N577SK |
| NTSB Number | IAD03FA069 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-8070087 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 23 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 5526.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES D. MITCHELL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MASSILON |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44646 |
| 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 | CAK |
| Departure City | AKRON |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1411 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GQQ |
| Destination City | GALION |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 23 2004 7:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |