Pottstown Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pottstown, Pennsylvania 19464
Sunday, July 4, 2004 15:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot initiated a short field takeoff, with 20 degrees of flaps. He rotated the airplane at 40-50 knots, and as the airplane climbed, he began to hear the stall warning horn. The pilot reported that the airplane handled "sluggishly," and at 400 feet, he retracted the flaps to 10 degrees. He initiated a left turn back to the runway, and the airplane touched down first on the nose wheel, and then began to porpoise down the runway. The airplane bounced several times, and about the second or third bounce, the landing gear collapsed and the propeller came in contact with the ground. The pilot reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. Additionally, he reported 150 hours of total flight experience, 1 hour of which was in the make and model of the accident airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/4/2004
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1500
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 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 401537N
Event Location Longitude 0754015W
Event Location Airport Pottstown Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID N47
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 256
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1454 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 140
Weather Observation Facility ID PTW
Elevation of weather observation facility 309
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18139
NTSB Notification Source ABE FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jul 12 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 13 2005 12:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Allentown FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N38RA
NTSB Number NYC04LA165
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 172C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17249058
Certified Max Gross Weight 2250
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 47
Airframe Hours 4133
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WIELGUS MARTIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1600 LEHIGH PKWY E APT 10D
Aircraft Owner City ALLENTOWN
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 18103
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Gateway Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Pottstown
Operator State PA
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code N47
Departure City Pottstown
Departure State PA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1500
Departure Time Zone EDT
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 Jun 5 2005 12:07PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 2704
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --