Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brandywine Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380
Thursday, March 6, 2008 16:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident airplane had just undergone avionics maintenance and was released to the pilot/owner about 30 minutes prior to the accident. According to the technician who conducted the maintenance, the autopilot system operated correctly, and he instructed the pilot to "check his trim before he left, as it runs during ground checks." Prior to engine start, the pilot noticed that the pitch trim was set to the full airplane nose down (AND) position. He reset the trim to the takeoff position, and ensured that the autopilot was off. The pilot reported that during the takeoff roll, the airplane did "not feel right," and he rejected the takeoff. The airplane overran the 3,347 foot-long, dry, asphalt runway, traveled down an embankment, and came to rest in a shallow ditch. Post-accident examination and testing of the airplane elevator and pitch trim system by an FAA inspector confirmed elevator and manual pitch trim control continuity, and the controls were observed to be functional and directionally correct. The electric pitch trim and cockpit pitch trim indicator were also observed to be functional and directionally correct. One witness reported that about 10 minutes elapsed from the time that the airplane was pulled from the maintenance hangar to when the pilot reported the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to ensure that the pitch trim was properly set for takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/6/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | West Chester |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19380 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395925N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0753455W |
| Event Location Airport | Brandywine |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OQN |
| 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 | 466 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1654 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPTW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 450 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 25376 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 6 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2009 2:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA/FSDO Philadelphia, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4623W |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA124 |
| 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 | ROCKWELL |
| Aircraft Model | 112TCA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 13154 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 14 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39 |
| Airframe Hours | 2052 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Elliot DeFalco |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Arlington |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22207 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Elliot DeFalco |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Arlington |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 22202 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | OQN |
| Departure City | West Chester |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HWY |
| Destination City | Warrenton |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2009 2:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 3347 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |