Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Perkiomen Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426
Wednesday, July 25, 2007 14:48 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the accident flight was to test fly the airplane following the completion of an annual inspection. The pilot stated that after performing two takeoffs and landings, during the initial climb of the third takeoff, about 60 to 70 feet above the ground the engine lost partial power. After unsuccessfully attempting to remedy the problem, the pilot realized that the airplane would not clear the trees beyond the departure end of the runway, so he retarded the throttle and extended the flaps fully. The airplane subsequently impacted a tree, where it came to rest. A flight instructor and a student observed the accident airplane as it flew in the airport traffic pattern, and witnessed the accident. They took off, and watched as the accident airplane taxied, departed behind them, and also remained in the airport traffic pattern. The instructor and the student watched the airplane as it landed for a third time. Everything about the approach appeared normal, until the accident airplane flared, and "ballooned." The nose of the airplane then came down and the airplane ballooned again at about the mid-field point, before it ballooned a third time. The airplane's nose then "abruptly" pitched down, the airplane touched down "hard," bounced, departed the end of the runway, and struck trees. Another witness described that she saw the airplane bouncing down the runway, before it departed the end of the runway, while still on the ground, and "came up into the air a little" before striking trees. Examination of the airplane following the accident revealed no evidence of any obvious mechanical deficiencies of the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1448 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Collegeville |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19426 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401214N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0752548W |
| Event Location Airport | Perkiomen Valley Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N10 |
| 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 | 277 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1454 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PTW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 309 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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 | 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) | 23850 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 26 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Allentown FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3900X |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA175 |
| 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 | Aero Commander |
| Aircraft Model | 100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 350 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2250 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Campbell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lansdale |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19446 |
| 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 | N10 |
| Departure City | Collegeville |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | N10 |
| 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 26 2008 7:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 2880 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |