Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Sussex, New Jersey 07461
Saturday, October 4, 2003 15:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the approach and landing, the flight instructor was at the controls with the student pilot, and was also talking him through the maneuvers. The airplane touched down about "midfield" on a wet runway. It subsequently hydroplaned, and overran the runway's departure end. The nose landing gear then encountered mud, and the left wing tip and the propeller struck the ground. Before and after the accident, the brakes operated normally. The runway was 3,499 feet long, and had a displaced threshold of 1,100 feet. The flight instructor stated that the winds were calm at the time of the accident; however, winds reported at the airport shortly beforehand indicated a 4-knot tailwind for the runway utilized. The flight instructor also stated that the approach and landing speeds may have been higher than normal.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flight instructor's failure to initiate a go-around. A factor was the wet runway conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/4/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Sussex
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 07461
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 411200N
Event Location Longitude 0743722W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID FWN
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1900
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.77
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15174
NTSB Notification Source FAA FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Oct 7 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1015
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 Allentown FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N98145
NTSB Number IAD04CA001
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17276262
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 AVLease LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5 Lighthouse Circle
Aircraft Owner City Jefferson
Aircraft Owner State NJ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 07849
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Century Air, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 10 Wright Way
Operator City Fairfield
Operator State NJ
Operator Country USA
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CDW
Departure City Fairfield
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
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 Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jan 21 2004 8:46AM
User who most recently changed record COXP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --