Lakeland Linder Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lakeland, Florida 33811
Friday, January 14, 2005 15:37 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to a witness, the airplane was in a steep nose-up attitude after becoming airborne, then rolled left and impacted the ground while in a slight nose-up and left wing low attitude. An individual who owns a Cessna 337 heard both engines operating at what he thought was full power. The airplane impacted on the runway surface and was destroyed by impact and the postcrash fire. According to a witness, the pilot started the engines and taxied to utilize all available runway. The flight was cleared to takeoff, and according to a controller in the tower cab, he did not observe the point of rotation, but reported the airplane was in a normal climb attitude when the flight was airborne approximately 1,000 feet down the runway, when it was approximately 500 feet more down the length of the runway, he observed the airplane pitch up to between an estimated 30-45 degrees, then level off at an estimated altitude of between 150-200 feet above ground level. Approximately 5 seconds later, the wings were noted to rock up and down and the airplane drifted north of the runway. The airplane rolled nose and left wing low, then appeared to level off before impacting the ground while in a slight nose up and left wing low attitude. He did not hear any unusual engine sounds during the flight and could not determine if the engines were run-up before departure. Both engines' rpm sounded to be synchronized during the flight. There was no distress call made by the pilot. The owner recently purchased the airplane and had a pre-buy inspection of it; no discrepancies were noted related to the flight controls. The airplane was flown from the place where purchased (California), to Florida, and was delivered 2 days before the accident. The pilot who flew the airplane to Florida reported it was a "fairly flawless trip." He did report that the autopilot was inoperative, and the digital fuel flow meter was inoperative. No repairs were performed to correct the inoperative autopilot before the accident flight. The accident pilot flew the airplane on 3 separate flights earlier on the day of the accident, and during the takeoff of all 3 flights, a pilot rated passenger later reported that the airplane pitched up aggressively during rotation. The passenger looked at the elevator trim setting and noted it was in the correct range for takeoff. During the landing of the third leg, the accident pilot reportedly performed a full stall landing from a height of 10 feet. The airplane was then taxied to the ramp and both fuel tanks were topped off for the accident flight. No maintenance was performed to the elevator primary or secondary flight control systems as a result of the reported excessive pitch-up events. Examination of the primary and secondary flight control system of the airplane revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction of the cables. The elevator trim was found set to 4 to 5 degrees aircraft nose-down. The flaps were extended 10 degrees, and the landing gear was extended at impact. Examination of the front and rear engines propeller and propeller governors revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. Examination of the pilot's seat tracks revealed both exhibited evidence of lock pin engagement at the time of impact in the 9th hole from the front. The airplane was calculated to be within weight and balance limits at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's operation of the airplane with known deficiencies in equipment related to pitch, an abrupt pitch-up during the initial climb after takeoff for undetermined reasons and the failure of the pilot to maintain airspeed (Vs) resulting in inadvertent stall, uncontrolled descent, and in-flight collision with terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/14/2005
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1537
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Lakeland
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33811
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 275919N
Event Location Longitude 0820105W
Event Location Airport Lakeland Linder Regional
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KLAL
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 142
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1541 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KLAL
Elevation of weather observation facility 142
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 12000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 700
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20004
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Jan 14 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1605
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 29 2006 3:49PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Orlando, Florida

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N42WA
NTSB Number MIA05FA050
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T337G
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number P3370205
Certified Max Gross Weight 4700
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6091.8
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aerolease of America, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2533 North Carson Street, #A274
Aircraft Owner City Carson City
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89706
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Danny Ferrer
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 8812 Moore Road
Operator City Lakeland
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33809
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 KLAL
Departure City Lakeland
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1537
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KTLH
Destination City Tallahassee
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 19 2006 11:44AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 8500
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --