Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Grass Strip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Falls Village, Connecticut 06031
Monday, October 11, 2010 8:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was repositioning the tail-wheeled airplane from a 720-foot grass strip to an airport for maintenance. He computed a takeoff distance of 450 feet and completed two practice takeoff runs to verify that the airplane was able to take off from the short runway. During the practice runs, with the airplane about 400 feet down the runway at an airspeed of 50 knots, the tail would rise normally and the pilot would abort the takeoff. During the accident takeoff roll, about 400 feet down the strip, the airplane encountered a dip in the terrain and briefly became airborne. The airplane settled back onto the runway and the pilot continued the takeoff, rotating airborne about 100 feet prior to a cornfield off the departure end of the runway. The pilot attempted to gain altitude, but the airplane struck corn stalks and descended into terrain. During the accident sequence that airplane incurred substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and engine firewall. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to abort the takeoff, which resulted in an in-flight collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/11/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 805 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Falls Village |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06031 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415718N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0732150W |
| Event Location Airport | Private Grass Strip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 502 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 754 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1194 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| 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) | 29.78 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27688 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2010 10:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N89603 |
| NTSB Number | ERA11CA017 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 120 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 8650 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1450 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 22 1983 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1319 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Willie Simon |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | FALLS VILLAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06031-1517 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Willie Simon |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | FALLS VILLAGE |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 06031-1517 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Falls Village |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 810 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GBR |
| Destination City | Great Barringto |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 26 2010 10:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | moah-i |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 720 |
| Runway Width | 20 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |