Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake City, Michigan 49651
Saturday, July 3, 2004 19:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was damaged when it went off the end of the runway, crossed a road and struck a ditch on the opposite side of the road. The pilot reported that during the takeoff, he "accelerated to slightly over 85 miles per hour [and] could feel absolutely no lift." He reported seeing a small piece of paper come from the northwest at approximately 100 feet above the ground. He stated that the paper then dove to the ground to the southwest and bounced along the ground in front of the airplane. The pilot stated that he pulled the throttle back, the airplane bounced off of the ground, hit the end of the runway and crossed the road adjacent to the departure end of the runway and came to rest in the ditch on the west side of the road. The winds about 30 minutes prior to the accident were 120 degrees at 11 knots. About 30 minutes after the accident the recorded wind was 130 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 14 knots. The takeoff was being made on runway 27.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot selecting the wrong runway for the wind conditions and his delay in executing an aborted takeoff resulting in the airplane running off the departure end of the runway and into a ditch. The tailwind and the ditch were contributing factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/3/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lake City |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49651 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 441913N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0851013W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| 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 | KCAD |
| 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 | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16237 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 5 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 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2546H |
| NTSB Number | CHI04CA175 |
| 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 | Ercoupe (Eng & Research Corp.) |
| Aircraft Model | 415C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3171 |
| 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 | Wendall E. Wing |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Marion |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | Y91 |
| Departure City | Lake City |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2004 4:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |