Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
La Porte Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Porte, Texas 77571
Friday, May 19, 2006 16:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 150-hour solo student pilot lost control of the single-engine airplane while attempting a short field takeoff from runway 30 with a prevailing 15 knot tailwind. According to the owner/operator of the airplane, the pilot reported that he was following another aircraft to runway 30 for takeoff. The operator added that the pilot performed an intersection takeoff instead of using all available runway because the aircraft he was following blocked his access. During an interview with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the student pilot stated that after takeoff he allowed his airspeed to deteriorate and the stall horn activated. The pilot added that he elected to "crash" straight ahead after he realized that the airplane could not accelerate or climb. Investigation of the accident site by the FAA inspector revealed that the airplane touched down in the wings level attitude, about 76 feet from the departure end of the runway and impacted a chain link fence before coming to rest in the inverted position approximately 340 feet from the departure end of runway 30. According to eyewitnesses interviewed by the FAA inspector, the windsock was indicating a surface wind of at least 15 knots from approximately 160 degrees when the aircraft departed the 4,165-foot long by 75-foot wide runway. The nearest weather reporting station, located approximately 7 nautical miles southwest of the accident site, reported winds from 130 degrees at 10 knots. Another weather reporting station, located approximately 12 miles west of the accident site reported winds from 170 degrees at 11 knots. The student pilot failed to return a completed NTSB Form 6120.1 to the Investigator in Change (IIC).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's inadequate weather evaluation and his failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in a stall. A contributing factor was the prevailing tailwind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/19/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1640 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | La Porte |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77571 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 294009N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0950351W |
| Event Location Airport | La Porte Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T41 |
| 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 | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HOU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 45 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| 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) | 29.9 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20423 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2006 2:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2378K |
| NTSB Number | DFW06CA133 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-38-112 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 38-79A0601 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ascent Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | League City |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77571 |
| 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 | T41 |
| Departure City | La Porte |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | T41 |
| Destination City | La Porte |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2006 6:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 4165 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |