Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airpstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bainbridge, Georgia 31717
Friday, September 3, 2004 20:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was returning from his last aerial application for the day. A witness saw the airplane flying north around 800 feet. Witnesses then saw the airplane descend approximately to 500 feet. Witnesses state that the airplane pitched 45-degrees nose up and then began to roll to the left until the airplane was fully inverted. From the inverted attitude, the nose of the airplane went down into a 90-degree angle, and collided with the ground. Examination of the accident site revealed the airplane and all of its components together in the middle of a cotton field. The airplane's propeller and engine were buried into the ground in a 75-degree angle. The fuselage was crushed inward. The tail was separated from the empennage. The right horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizers were still attached to the tail. The left stabilizer was detached from the tail. The flaps were found in the "up" position. There were no fractured bolts found. There was flight control continuity throughout the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during an abrupt maneuver which resulted in a stall and collision with the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/3/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2005 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bainbridge |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31717 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 305817N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843814W |
| Event Location Airport | Private airpstrip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2353 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMAI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 110 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17883 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 5 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 936 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3047A |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA173 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-401B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401B1034 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7860 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1004.5 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | East River Flying Service LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 3847 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bainbridge |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39817 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | East River Flying Service LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 3847 |
| Operator City | Bainbridge |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 39817 |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Bainbridge |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1910 |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2005 1:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |