Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mount Comfort Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Indianapolis, Indiana 46140
Tuesady, June 27, 2006 13:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The unoccupied airplane inadvertently became airborne and crashed shortly after the pilot hand-propped the engine. The pilot reported that he attempted to hand-prop the engine because the aircraft's battery had insufficient charge to utilize the electric starter. The pilot stated that he "tied the tail down" with an automotive style, webbed cargo strap. The pilot reported that after successfully starting the engine, the tail tie-down failed as he repositioned himself to get into the cabin. The pilot stated that he reached "in through the window and tried to pull the mixture out, but could not reach it." The pilot reported that he hung onto the aircraft as it began to accelerate forward, and believes he "moved the throttle more open" before having to let go of the airplane due to its increasing ground speed. The unoccupied airplane eventually became airborne and crashed about one mile from the ramp area. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had used wheel chocks, utilized another tie-down on the tail, or had a person at the aircraft's controls during the hand-start.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot intentionally leaving the airplane unoccupied during the engine start and the failure of the tail tie-down, which ultimately resulted in the unoccupied airplane becoming airborne.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/27/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Indianapolis |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46140 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395037N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0855349W |
| Event Location Airport | Mount Comfort |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MQJ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 862 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 165 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GEZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 810 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20415 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 27 2006 12:00AM |
| 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 | Federal Aviation Administration, Indianapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3366J |
| NTSB Number | CHI06CA170 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15066066 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 3950 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Allen Bauer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1340 Shortridge Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Greenwood |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46143 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MQJ |
| Departure City | Indianapolis |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Indianapolis |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - starting engine(s) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2006 1:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |