Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Falcon Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mesa, Arizona 85205
Monday, October 20, 2003 16:18 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane stalled and collided with the ground during an attempted return to runway maneuver. During the initial climb from runway 22R the pilot reported to the tower that he had a loose panel and he needed to return to the airport. A witness reported that the airplane departed with an open cowling. After lifting from the runway, the airplane turned left and then stalled. The witness lost visual contact with the airplane when it descended below a tree line. The airplane collided with terrain about 250 yards southwest of runway 4L. Post accident examination of the airplane revealed that the attachment fittings for the cowling on the right side were unlatched and not damaged. The left attachment fittings for the cowling were latched and deformed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Also causal, was the pilot's inadequate preflight and failure to secure the right side of the engine cowling prior to departure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1618 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Mesa |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85205 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332739N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114342W |
| Event Location Airport | Falcon Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FFZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.14 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 1394 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFFZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1394 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17321 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 20 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2005 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9338W |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA021 |
| 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-28-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-11023 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | G. SCOTT CROSBY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MESA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85203 |
| 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 | FFZ |
| Departure City | Mesa |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4L |
| Runway Length | 3801 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |