Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rainbows End Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Salem, New Jersey 08079
Saturday, November 1, 2003 11:55 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While departing from runway 01, the airplane lifted off, about 1,000 feet down the 1,800-foot long wet turf runway. The pilot felt a "strong breeze, almost a tailwind," and the airplane began to settle downward, touching back down on the runway surface. The airplane then bounced back into the air, and would not climb out of ground effect. The pilot decided not to abort the takeoff, fearing that the nosewheel would sink into the muddy runway, and flip the airplane over. As the airplane continued past the departure end of the runway, the airplane still would not climb, and pilot performed a forced landing to a marsh area. After the accident, the pilot stated that he "should have aborted the takeoff when he first had the chance to." The pilot additionally stated that the maximum allowable gross weight of the airplane was 2,350 pounds, and the takeoff weight at the time of the accident was 2,240 pounds. Review of the Airplane Flight Manual revealed that the total takeoff ground roll, from a level, dry, hard surfaced runway, was about 1,248 feet. No charts were available to compute a ground roll distance from a wet turf runway. The winds reported by an airport located about 7 miles west of the accident site, at 1151, were from 150 degrees at 5 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's delay in aborting the takeoff after his failure to obtain a proper climb rate. Factors related to the accident were the tailwind conditions, and the wet turf runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/1/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1155 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Salem |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08079 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393151N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0752838W |
| Event Location Airport | Rainbows End |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 12 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1151 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ILG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 79 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 30.22 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15007 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 1 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1243 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2004 12:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8772M |
| NTSB Number | NYC04CA019 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A23 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | M-557 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 3413 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alexander Ethier |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | National Park |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08063 |
| 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 | NJ30 |
| Departure City | Salem |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1155 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 7N7 |
| Destination City | Pedricktown |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 5 2003 12:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 01 |
| Runway Length | 1800 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |