Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Manatee Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palmetto, Florida 34221
Thursday, January 14, 2010 14:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the owner of the experimental amateur-built light sport airplane, the non-certificated accident pilot was planning to only taxi the airplane and not get airborne due to the wind conditions. The owner and several witnesses observed the airplane depart the runway and fly the prescribed runway traffic pattern. While on the base leg, the airplane began a steep bank with the nose entering a dive. The airplane subsequently impacted the ground behind a row of trees, with the engine continuing to operate at high power until ground impact. Postmortem toxicology testing was consistent with recent use of an impairing prescription narcotic medication, although the source of blood tested made it impossible to accurately estimate the time of the most recent use or the likelihood of impairment. The autopsy revealed that the pilot had an active hepatitis C infection with early evidence of liver cirrhosis. It is possible that the pilot was impaired by his recent narcotic use, by symptoms of chronic active hepatitis C infection, or by some other condition for which he was taking the prescription narcotic medication.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent impact with the ground. Contributing to the accident was his impairment due to the prescription narcotic medication he was taking.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/14/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Palmetto |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34221 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 273823N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823030W |
| Event Location Airport | Manatee |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 48X |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 27 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 319 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SPG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27968 |
| NTSB Notification Source | 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 | Feb 15 2011 11:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | Unregistere |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA119 |
| 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 | QUAD CITY |
| Aircraft Model | CHALLENGER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 800 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| 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 | Ronald F. Tozzi |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tampa |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33604 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Ronald F. Tozzi |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tampa |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33604 |
| 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 | 48X |
| Departure City | Palmetto |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 48X |
| Destination City | Palmetto |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 15 2011 11:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 07 |
| Runway Length | 3405 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |