Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merrill Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merrill Field Airport, Alaska 99508
Saturday, October 16, 2010 8:30 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot reported that during departure the airplane veered off the right side of the runway and collided with a taxiway berm, resulting in substantial damage to the empennage. The certificated flight instructor (CFI) reported that during takeoff, the airplane initially yawed to the left. He took authority over the flight controls and attempted to correct the yaw, but the airplane veered off the right side of the runway. The CFI stated that he should have closed the throttle as soon as directional control was lost.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The certificated flight instructor's failure to apply the correct remedial actions to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/16/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Merrill Field Airport |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99508 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 611248N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1495040W |
| Event Location Airport | Merrill Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAMR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| 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 | 1553 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAMR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 137 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.63 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27679 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Anchorage FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 14 2010 2:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4229M |
| NTSB Number | ANC11CA003 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-3126 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1935 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2054 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aras Worthington |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Anchorage |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99517 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aras Worthington |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Anchorage |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99517 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PAMR |
| Departure City | Merrill Field Airport |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PAMR |
| Destination City | Merrill Field Airport |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 14 2010 2:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |