Pottstown Limerick Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pottstown, Pennsylvania 19464
Thursday, May 6, 2004 12:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While practicing landings in the traffic pattern, during the landing flare, the student pilot noticed he was slightly left of centerline and applied full right rudder to correct. The nose of the airplane then turned sharply to the right, and the flight instructor applied left rudder to straighten it. However, the airplane had already drifted to the left side of the runway, touched down on the edge of the pavement, and the left wing impacted a tractor that was cutting the grass on the side of the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing, and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/6/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1200
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Pottstown
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 19464
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 401422N
Event Location Longitude 0753324W
Event Location Airport Pottstown Limerick Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PTW
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 309
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1154 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID PTW
Elevation of weather observation facility 309
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.13
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) 16165
NTSB Notification Source FAA EROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2004 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N94577
NTSB Number NYC04CA121
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 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15285736
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 --
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 Fare Share Ltd
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3310 W Ridge Pike
Aircraft Owner City Pottstown
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19464
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PTW
Departure City Pottstown
Departure State PA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PTW
Destination City Pottstown
Destination State PA
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 May 27 2004 11:10AM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 10
Runway Length 3371
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --