Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ocean City Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ocean City, New Jersey 08226
Sunday, August 29, 2004 16:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane veered left immediately after takeoff from runway 24. After departing the runway to the left, the pilot encountered a wind tetrahedron in his path. He attempted to pull up and over fly the tetrahedron, but struck it with the belly of the airplane. He reduced power and completed a landing to the grass infield of the airport. The pilot said that he felt the loss of directional control was due to a phenomenon called "wheelbarrowing," and that the PA-24 is susceptible to its effects. He further stated he felt the event was due to pilot error and was not a maintenance problem. According to the Federal Aviation Administration Airplane Flying Handbook: "Holding the airplane on the ground unnecessarily puts excessive pressure on the nosewheel, (and) may result in wheelbarrowing..."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's deliberate delay of rotation during the takeoff roll, and his subsequent loss of directional control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/29/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1620 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ocean City |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08226 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 391548N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0743644W |
| Event Location Airport | OCEAN CITY MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 26N |
| 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 | 8 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1554 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 26N |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16729 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Philadelphia FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 31 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1248 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2004 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7573P |
| NTSB Number | IAD04CA042 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-2783 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 14 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 3125 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John H. Purcell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Waldorf |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20602 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 26N |
| Departure City | OCEAN CITY |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1620 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 2W5 |
| Destination City | INDIAN HEAD |
| Destination State | MD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2004 9:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 2973 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |