Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Northampton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Northampton, Massachusetts 01060
Saturday, March 19, 2005 14:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the landing roll, while the pilot/owner was turning the airplane to exit the runway, it departed the runway and impacted a snow bank. Both pilots onboard reported that the tailwheel springs had become disconnected. According to the pilot/owner, the springs had also become disconnected during a previous flight, and the airplane departed the runway. A flight instructor, who had flown with the pilot/owner during that flight, stated that he advised the pilot/owner that he would not fly the airplane again until the pilot/owner had addressed the problem with the tailwheel springs.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot/owner's improper decision to conduct the flight with a known deficiency in equipment, which resulted in a loss of control when the tailwheel springs became disconnected. Factors were the disconnection of the tailwheel springs, the snow bank, and operataion with known deficiencies in equipment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/19/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Northampton |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01060 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 421941N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0723641W |
| Event Location Airport | Northampton Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 7B2 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 122 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1355 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CEF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 241 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18121 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NE Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 31 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Windsor Locks FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3679T |
| NTSB Number | IAD05LA049 |
| 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 | Taylorcraft |
| Aircraft Model | F19 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | F-079 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Dec 15 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stephen A. Samoskevich |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Trumbull |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06611 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 7B2 |
| Departure City | Northampton |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2005 4:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COXP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3365 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |