Portage County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ravenna, Ohio 44266
Wednesday, January 14, 2004 17:30 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, the airplane encountered icing while flying in and out of the clouds, and as he performed a visual approach to the airport, a layer of ice had accumulated on the windshield. The pilot flew three approaches to the runway, attempting to "line up with the final," as well as clear ice off the windshield. During the third attempt, as the pilot flared to land, the co-pilot stated, "I have the flaps," and extended the flaps to the full position. Several seconds later, the airplane "stalled," at an altitude of 10 feet, and touched down hard on the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent hard landing. A factor in the accident was degraded aircraft performance due to the airframe ice accumulation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/14/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Ravenna
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 44266
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 411236N
Event Location Longitude 0811505W
Event Location Airport Portage County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 29G
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 1197
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1743 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID AKR
Elevation of weather observation facility 1067
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 3600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1700
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) 1.75
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.6
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17809
NTSB Notification Source Cleveland FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Feb 12 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 8 2005 12:51PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Cleveland FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N300FB
NTSB Number NYC04LA067
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 421
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 421B0893
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 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Gerald Stephens
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Streetsboro
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 44241
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Nicholas Pate
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Kent
Operator State OH
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 44240
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) Executive/Corporate
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code AZO
Departure City Battle Creek
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1610
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 29G
Destination City Ravenna
Destination State OH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 25 2005 10:02AM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --