Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greeneville, Tennessee 37616
Sunday, May 31, 2009 14:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the departure airport has hills located to the east and north of the airport. He obtained an abbreviated computer weather briefing before the flight indicating that the surface winds were from 040 degrees at 6 knots. The surface winds at another airport located 20 nautical miles east of the departure airport were from 240 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 14 knots. The pilot departed from runway 4 and started a right turn while flying 100 to 200 feet above ground level just past the hill located to the east. The pilot stated that the airspeed immediately decreased, the airplane became "mushy," and then made contact with a tree. The pilot stated that he encountered a wind change or wind shear swirling between the two hills. The airplane continued to lose altitude, and he made an off-field landing in an open field. The airplane hit an electrical line as he landed the airplane perpendicular to a road. The airplane collided with an embankment and burst into flames. The pilot stated there were no mechanical problems with the airplane before the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An encounter with wind shear on initial climb after takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1420 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Greeneville |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37616 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361747N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824538W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TN99 |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 58 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1519 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4500 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25655 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Nashville FAA FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2009 8:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N250JP |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA313 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PENSINGER |
| Aircraft Model | ZODIAC 601 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6-5646 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1325 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 9 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 683 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PENSINGER JAMES M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 250 CANORES RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | AFTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37616-4052 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PENSINGER JAMES M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 250 CANORES RD |
| Operator City | AFTON |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 37616-4052 |
| 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 | TN99 |
| Departure City | Greeneville |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1419 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RVN |
| Destination City | Rodgersville |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 26 2009 1:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |