Lake Water Wheels Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Shepard, Texas 77371
Friday, June 17, 2011 16:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed to practice touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. He said the sky was clear and the wind was blowing directly down the runway about 5 to 10 knots during the takeoff roll. When the airplane reached an altitude of 50 feet, the pilot encountered turbulent updrafts and downdrafts, which caused him to have a difficult time controlling the airplane. He tried to abort the take off, but the airplane encountered an updraft and was turned almost 90 degrees to the right, and was pushed over a heavily wooded area adjacent to the runway. The airplane stalled and collided with trees in a near vertical nose down attitude causing substantial damage to the wings and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's loss of aircraft control after encountering windshear and turbulence on takeoff.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/17/2011
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1645
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Shepard
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77371
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 302809N
Event Location Longitude 0945427W
Event Location Airport Lake Water Wheels
Event Location Nearest Airport ID XS99
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 Unknown
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 20
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 28741
NTSB Notification Source HOU FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 22 2011 1:24PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3504K
NTSB Number CEN11CA406
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model J3C-65
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 22194
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
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 HOP Props LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Houston
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name HOP Props LLC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Houston
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code XS99
Departure City Shepard
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code XS99
Destination City Shepard
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2011 3:20PM
User who most recently changed record yeal
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 11
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --