Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Northeast Philadelphia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19114
Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instructor and student pilot had completed one touch-and-go landing and the airplane was in the departure climb, when the pilots were instructed by an air traffic controller to "make right traffic." The airplane entered a right turn, and was observed at a "high angle of attack" just prior to entering a descending 90-degree right bank. The airplane struck a parked trailer and skided across the ground, coming to rest under a row of parked trailers. A post-crash fire ensued. Examination of the airplane and engine revealed no pre-impact mechanical anomalies. The Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) for the airplane listed a stall speed of approximately 65 mph at a bank angle of 20 degrees, and 90 mph at a bank angle of 60 degrees. The POH listed a rotation speed between 60 and 65 mph and a normal climb speed of 95 mph.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/22/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1158 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Philadelphia |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19114 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400514N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0750054W |
| Event Location Airport | Northeast Philadelphia Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PNE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 121 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1154 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PNE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 121 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.65 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25700 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Operations |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 22 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2009 9:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9555U |
| NTSB Number | NYC08FA189 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman American |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1C0053 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Herbert Hortman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fstrvl Trvose |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19053 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hortman Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Philadelphia |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19053 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PNE |
| Departure City | Philadelphia |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1155 |
| 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 | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 8 2009 1:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |