Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
North Central State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860
Friday, October 29, 2004 17:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had completed construction of the accident airplane, and an FAA inspector had approved it for flight and issued a special airworthiness certificate. On the day of the accident, which was the second flight conducted since the construction was completed, witnesses observed the airplane in the airport traffic pattern. As the airplane turned onto the base leg, about 500 feet above the ground, it suddenly "nosed over," and spiraled towards the ground. The witnesses also recalled that the engine "sputtered" just prior to it descending. An additional witness recalled that the engine was "revving at full power" as it descended. The airplane came to rest about 1 mile from the airport, where a post-crash fire consumed the wreckage. According to a statement posted by the accident owner/pilot on a website message board dedicated to Adventurer experimental amphibian airplanes, the pilot stated that he had modified the elevator of the airplane from a 3 degree maximum up angle, to a 18 degree maximum up angle for the accident flight, "to see if I have leveled out the wings, and if I can get sufficient elevator up travel to climb out of the airport at 90mph." Examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane's automotive type engine was extensively damaged by the post-crash fire, and further examination could not be performed. Also noted were several socks filled with steel ball bearings, weighing approximately 25 pounds, and 1 or 2-50-pound bags of ballast in the wreckage. The exact location of where the socks and ballast were stationed during the flight could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/29/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pawtucket |
| Event State | RHODE ISLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02860 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415514N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0712928W |
| Event Location Airport | North Central State Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SFZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 441 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 441 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| 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) | 20519 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 29 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2006 8:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boston, MA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N469PD |
| NTSB Number | NYC05LA012 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | Adventure Air AMPIB |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 102B |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Paul I. Douglas |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Norfolk |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02056 |
| 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 | SFZ |
| Departure City | Pawtucket |
| Departure State | RI |
| 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 | Approach - VFR pattern - base leg/base to final |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 8 2006 5:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |