Bennetta Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North Creek, New York 12853
Saturday, July 3, 2004 12:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was landing the tail-wheeled airplane to the northwest, on a 3,000-foot-long, 150-foot-wide, turf runway. After touchdown, the airplane veered to the right, and it's right wingtip impacted a tree. The pilot reported that the winds were calm, and he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions. The pilot had accumulated about 122 hours of total flight experience, which included 11 hours in tail-wheel airplanes. He received an endorsement to operate tail-wheel airplanes 9 days prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. A factor in this accident was the pilot's lack of experience in tail-wheeled airplanes.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/3/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1230
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City North Creek
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 12853
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 434200N
Event Location Longitude 0735858W
Event Location Airport Bennetta Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 0NY0
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 1040
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 143
Weather Observation Facility ID GFL
Elevation of weather observation facility 328
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 31
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6500
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
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) 30.03
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) 16587
NTSB Notification Source Eastern Region Ops Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 3 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1915
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 28 2004 10:11AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albany

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N57430
NTSB Number NYC04CA155
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 Bellanca
Aircraft Model 7ECA
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 944-73
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 29 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 65
Airframe Hours 1470
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Richard F. Case
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Johnstown
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 12095
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City JOHNSTOWN
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1100
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 0NY0
Destination City NORTH CREEK
Destination State NY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 4 2004 3:48PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NW
Runway Length 3000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --