Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Penn Yan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Penn Yan, New York 14527
Friday, June 18, 2010 15:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident flight was the fourth test flight of the airplane, which was a historical replica of an airplane built in 1910, and it was the first time that the pilot planned to perform a traffic pattern flight around the airport before returning to land. The pilot reported that the airplane's controls were responsive and effective during the first three flights, which had a total duration of about 5 minutes. While the first three flights had been conducted under calm wind conditions, there was a crosswind from the west at the time of the accident. A witness to the accident flight stated that the airplane took off on runway 19, climbed to about 100 feet above ground level, and turned left (downwind) about two-thirds of the way down the runway. The airplane entered a controlled descent and impacted the ground in a right-wing-low attitude. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane. He stated that the airplane began to descend after beginning the left turn and that he thought that the airplane experienced a decrease in lift as a result of the tailwind. Although an airplane does not lose aerodynamic lift when turning from a crosswind to a tailwind, the pilot may have misperceived the increased ground speed as an increase in airspeed and increased the airplane’s pitch angle to compensate, resulting in a descent due to increased drag.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain altitude after takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/18/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Penn Yan |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14527 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423813N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0770310W |
| Event Location Airport | Penn Yan Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PEO |
| 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 | 990 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PEO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 990 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29936 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2012 7:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N910GC |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA318 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Glenn H Curtiss Museum |
| Aircraft Model | Hudson Flyer |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 18 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 0 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Glenn H. Curtiss Museum |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8419 State Route 54 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hammondsport |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 14840 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Glenn H. Curtiss Museum |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 8419 State Route 54 |
| Operator City | Hammondsport |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 14840 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PEO |
| Departure City | Penn Yan |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PEO |
| Destination City | Penn Yan |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 17 2012 2:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |