Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St Paul Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St Paul, Minnesota 55101
Saturday, August 9, 2008 9:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he initiated the takeoff as normal. However, as the airplane accelerated through 80 knots the nose lifted "abruptly." He could not move the control stick far enough forward to lower the nose and level the airplane. As a result, he elected to reject the takeoff. The pilot used elevator trim, which lowered the nose enough for landing. The pilot reported the airplane touched down on the runway, but with the left wing low. The airplane drifted to the left and departed the runway pavement "at a shallow angle." The nose wheel steering had been disengaged during takeoff roll in accordance with standard flight manual procedures. As a result, the pilot was limited to differential braking to maintain control. The airplane encountered wet grass adjacent to the runway, and subsequently struck a runway sign and a light before coming to a stop. A post accident inspection revealed that the right front (co-pilot) seat belt had been buckled around the flight control stick, out of sight of the pilot, restricting full movement of the controls. The airplane sustained impact damage to the left wing, including the leading edge fuel tank and wing ribs. The pilot commented that he removed the co-pilot control stick to eliminate any possibility of a similar event in the future.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Restriction of the elevator controls due to the presence of the seat belt buckled around the co-pilot control stick. An additional cause was the failure of the pilot to verify that the flight controls were unobstructed before flight. Contributing factors were the wet grass encountered during the runway excursion, and the sign and light impacted during the event.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | St Paul |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55101 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 445605N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0930337W |
| Event Location Airport | St Paul Downtown |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | STP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 705 |
| 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 | STP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 705 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSTP 091353Z 00000KT 10SM BKN075 BKN085 22/1 |
| 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) | 24357 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 9 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2008 6:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N69X |
| NTSB Number | CHI08CA249 |
| 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 | Morane-Saulnier |
| Aircraft Model | MS-760/B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 90 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8970 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2945 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AEI Fund Management, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | St Paul |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55101 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Robert P. Johnson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | St Paul |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55101 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | STP |
| Departure City | St Paul |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RPD |
| Destination City | Rice Lake |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 19 2008 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 6491 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |