Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merrill Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merrill, Wisconsin 54452
Wednesday, July 21, 2004 18:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The single-engine tail-wheel equipped airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain after takeoff. The flight instructor reported that he and a dual student were practicing takeoffs and landings with a left crosswind of approximately 8 miles per hour. During the fourth takeoff, the student lifted off with "near perfect" directional control, however, the aircraft subsequently yawed 30 to 40 degrees to the right at which time the student released the controls. The flight instructor stated that he immediately assumed the controls and applied full left rudder. He reported that the aircraft settled into ground effect. He held the plane in ground effect in an attempt to gain airspeed, however, the aircraft subsequently settled into a swamp area beyond the end of the runway. The flight instructor and dual student reported no known malfunction of the aircraft or engine prior to the accident. At 1835, the RRL automated weather observing system recorded winds from 250 degrees at 5 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The dual student's failure to maintain directional control during the initial climb after takeoff and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action. A contributing factor was that all available runway was not used for takeoff due to the touch-and-go operation. An additional factor was the swamp terrain encountered.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/21/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Merrill |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54452 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 451156N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0894246W |
| Event Location Airport | Merrill Muni |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RRL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 340 |
| Airport Elevation | 1318 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1835 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RRL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1318 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.72 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3164 |
| 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) | 16240 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 21 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2036 |
| 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 | FAA-Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N45628 |
| NTSB Number | CHI04CA189 |
| 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 | Luscombe |
| Aircraft Model | 8A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2155 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1260 |
| 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 | Jun 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24 |
| Airframe Hours | 2209 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Don L. Erl |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | W4900 Highway 64 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Medford |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 54451 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RRL |
| Departure City | Merrill |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RRL |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2004 3:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 2997 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |