Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pvt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Harvard, Illinois 60033
Thursday, October 9, 2003 19:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane contacted a corn crop while attempting to land on an unlit grass airstrip at night. The pilot stated that he was making a low approach over the unlit airstrip to determine if he was able to see it well enough to land. He stated that if he was unable to see well enough, he had planned to fly to a nearby airport. He stated the field elevation at the airstrip is 1,000 feet and he set his altimeter after listening to the Automated Terminal Information Service (ATIS) of a airport which was approximately 28 statue miles away. He stated that once on final approach, he was able to see the lights from the open hangar at the far end of the airstrip. He reported he descended in the general direction of the runway threshold using a flashlight in the cockpit to view the altimeter. The pilot reported he was next aware of the sound of corn stalks hitting the airplane. The airplane then impacted the ground and turned to the right with the nose gear collapsing. The airplane contacted the corn stalks approximately two-tenths of a mile from the end of the runway. The pilot reported, "I would say I failed to monitor the rate of sink for the fly-by/approach and the situation was due to pilot error."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot misjudged his altitude and distance from the approach end of the airstrip, along with his decision to land at an unlit airstrip at night. Factors involved in the accident were the the night lighting conditions, the unlit airstrip, and the corn crop which the airplane contacted.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/9/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1945 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Harvard |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60033 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422415N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0883801W |
| Event Location Airport | Pvt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 1000 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1954 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 235 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 742 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1442 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15089 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 12 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1936 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | West Chicago, IL FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3848H |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA008 |
| 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 | Ercoupe (Eng & Research Corp.) |
| Aircraft Model | 415-D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4549 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 1750 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | George T. York |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 25918 York Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Harvard |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60033 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Thomas N. Chapman |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 10617 White Oaks Road |
| Operator City | Harvard |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 60033 |
| 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 | PWK |
| Departure City | Wheeling |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Harvard |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 14 2004 2:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2650 |
| Runway Width | 120 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |