Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Charlottesville-Albermarle Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Charlottesville, Virginia 22936
Thursday, September 3, 2009 20:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot performed a successful landing during night visual conditions, about 30 minutes after sunset at the destination airport. He taxied off the runway onto a perpendicular taxiway, and was instructed by the ground controller to "taxi to the ramp." The pilot stated that he was "unable to make out any features on the ground," due to the darkness. He observed the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) directly in front of him and proceeded straight ahead, not realizing there was a strip of grass separating the taxiway and the FBO. The airplane exited the taxiway and continued down a grassy slope between the ramp and taxiway. During the excursion from the taxiway, the propeller and the tail of the airplane struck the ground, resulting in substantial damage. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. He stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had studied the airport diagram and identified the grassy area.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning and lack of familiarity with the airport diagram, which resulted in a runway excursion onto a grassy area.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/3/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2010 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Charlottesville |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22936 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380819N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0782710W |
| Event Location Airport | Charlottesville-Albermarle |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CHO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 639 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2030 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CHO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 50 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26136 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA/FSDO Richmond |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2009 11:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N75PW |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA508 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | 231 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-0806 |
| 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 | Jun 23 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4180 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Philip M. Walker |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5009 Fort Sumner Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bethesda |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20816 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Philip M. Walker |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 5009 Fort Sumner Dr. |
| Operator City | Bethesda |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 20816 |
| 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 | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BWI |
| Departure City | Baltimore |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1905 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHO |
| Destination City | Charlottesville |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2009 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 6001 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |