Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Joliet Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Joliet, Illinois 60426
Thursday, January 1, 2009 20:48 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot landed with 4 to 5 gallons of fuel on board following a 4.5-hour cross-country flight. After landing, the pilot made numerous attempts to locate fuel in order to continue the flight so that his passenger could be at work in the morning. The pilot left a note and money after having siphoned fuel from another airplane parked at the airport. After about 2 hours and 45 minutes on the ground, the airplane took off again. Impact marks indicate that the airplane stalled during the takeoff, impacting the terrain with the left wing prior to catching fire and coming to rest inverted. The accident occurred at night as the airplane was departing on the second leg of a cross-country flight. Calculations show that the airplane was slightly over the maximum gross takeoff weight and the center of gravity (CG) was slightly aft of the aft limit at the time of the accident. A pilot of another single-engine airplane, who landed a few minutes after the accident airplane landed, and who took off about 30 minutes later (which would have been about 2 hours before the accident) reported that he had to wipe a “slight frost buildup” off of his wings and tail with a towel prior to takeoff. The investigation could not determine whether the slight frost, slight overgross condition, or slight aft CG contributed, either individually or in combination, to the aerodynamic stall of the airplane. Additionally, several people reported that it was not uncommon to see deer on the airport property and one person reported seeing many deer on the runway earlier in the day prior to when the pilot landed; however the investigation could not determine whether deer were present on the runway at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate flying speed during the night takeoff for undetermined reasons, which resulted in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/1/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2048 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Joliet |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60426 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413106N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0881053W |
| Event Location Airport | Joliet Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JOT |
| 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 | 581 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2045 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JOT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 582 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| 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) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| 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) | 25409 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Joliet, IL Police Department |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2009 2:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | guzj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3603R |
| NTSB Number | CEN09FA111 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | LANTZAIR FLYERS INC |
| Aircraft Model | LANCAIR 360 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 238-320-007 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 13 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 1446 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stuart Seffern |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Madison |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53713 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Stuart Seffern |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Madison |
| Operator State | WI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 53713 |
| 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 | JOT |
| Departure City | Joliet |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2048 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RYV |
| Destination City | Watertown |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 7 2011 4:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 3228 |
| Runway Width | 125 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |