Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Republic Aiport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Farmingdale, New York 11735
Saturday, May 5, 2007 8:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane stalled during initial takeoff climb as the pilot was performing a simulated short field takeoff. The pilot/owner boarded his passenger, started the airplane, and taxied to a 5,516-foot-long by 150-foot-wide asphalt runway. The pilot elected to perform a short-field takeoff. Once the airplane became airborne, the pilot established a pronounced nose-high attitude as he attempted to establish a climb airspeed of 55 knots. The pilot was under the impression that the stall speed of the airplane was between 47 and 51 knots and the best angle of climb speed (Vx) was between 55 and 60 knots. The pilot added that when the airplane reached an altitude of 100 to 200 feet above the runway, the engine RPM dropped and the airspeed decreased. The airplane stalled and the nose of the airplane dropped toward the ground, impacting the runway. A witness, who was a flight instructor, was standing on the airport ramp near the main terminal building when he saw the airplane takeoff. He said the airplane was in an "extreme nose high attitude" and he never saw the pilot make an attempt to lower the nose. Examination of the airplane revealed that the airplane came to rest upright on the west side of the runway near the 1,020-foot fixed-distance marks on the runway. The initial impact point was a series of four slash marks on the runway surface just prior to where the airplane came to rest. The flaps were found in the zero-degree (fully retracted) position and the elevator trim tab was positioned one-quarter of a turn from neutral towards the nose down position. According to the airplane's Flight Manual, the tab should be set halfway between neutral and full nose-up for a high performance takeoff. In addition, the published stall speed for the airplane with flaps (power on) was 33 miles per hour (mph) (29 knots).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a short-field takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 850 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Farmingdale |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11735 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404326N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0732429W |
| Event Location Airport | Republic Aiport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KFRG |
| 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 | 82 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FRG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 82 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 9 |
| 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) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21796 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Farmingdale FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 7 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Farmingdale, New York |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N16HY |
| NTSB Number | DFW07LA105 |
| 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 | Aviat |
| Aircraft Model | A-1A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1455 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1875 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 481.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Air Transport Service, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Massapequa |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 11758 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Vincent Pacifico |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Massapequa |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 11758 |
| 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 | FRG |
| Departure City | Farmingdale |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 6:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 01 |
| Runway Length | 5516 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |