Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Branch County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Coldwater, Michigan 49036
Sunday, July 22, 2007 11:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted terrain after takeoff from runway 16 (2,400 feet by 190 feet, turf). The pilot reported that they had stopped at the accident airport for fuel. At the time of their initial approach and landing winds aloft were from the east; however, surface winds were from the west. They subsequently landed on runway 25 (5,350 feet by 75 feet, asphalt) without incident. The pilot stated that after fueling surface winds had reversed direction. They were now from the east at 8 to 10 knots. He elected to use runway 16 for takeoff because he felt the airplane "handled better on grass." The pilot reported that when the airplane lifted off, it "felt light" and "loose controlled" so he lowered the nose in order to gain airspeed. He noted feeling a "slight bump or lift followed by a rapid drop of [the] left wing and nose." The airplane subsequently impacted the ground. Examination of the flight control system did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a pre-impact failure. Winds recorded by the departure airport Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) within 5 minutes of the accident were from 140 degrees at 4 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during the initial climb after takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush condition. A contributing factor was the low altitude at the time of the inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/22/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Coldwater |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49036 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415601N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0850309W |
| Event Location Airport | Branch County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OEB |
| 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 | 959 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1057 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OEB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 959 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.3 |
| 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) | 22215 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 22 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2007 7:09AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-South Bend FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N59220 |
| NTSB Number | CHI07CA225 |
| 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 | Ryan |
| Aircraft Model | ST3KR |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2058 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1885 |
| 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 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2533 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James D. McDaniel |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ortonville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48462 |
| 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 | OEB |
| Departure City | Coldwater |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| 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 | Sep 11 2007 1:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 2400 |
| Runway Width | 190 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |