Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Norton Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gulf Shores, Alabama 36542
Sunday, June 20, 2004 9:55 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he departed the grass strip and flew two separate banner flights along the beach. After dropping the second banner off he proceeded around the pattern to land on the grass strip. On the base leg of the pattern, the pilot states "a high enough speed was not kept and the right wing stalled and 'broke out' forcing the plane to the right and into a nose down attitude". The plane impacted the trees in a nose down attitude and came to a stop upon hitting the ground. According to a witness, the airplane was seen on its base to final leg when the aircraft began going behind the tree line in a 90-degree bank and a 60-degree nose down position. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane during the flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed that resulted in a stall and the subsequent collision with the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 955 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gulf Shores |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36542 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 301725N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0874018W |
| Event Location Airport | Norton Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 14 |
| 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 | KNPA |
| 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 | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16220 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 20 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 | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N82451 |
| NTSB Number | ATL04CA135 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-25-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-7756018 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 16 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 2330 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dophin Air Leasing |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 916 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Gulf Shores |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36547 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Gulf Air Advertising Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 20674 CR #8 |
| Operator City | Gulf Shores |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 36542 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PVT |
| Departure City | GULF SHORES |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 820 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | GULF SHORES |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 26 2004 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2600 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |