Paxton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Paxton, Illinois 60957
Saturday, July 16, 2011 15:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, during departure with a slight, quartering tailwind, the airplane did not continue climbing or gain altitude due to the high density altitude. The airplane started to descend and he realized that he would not clear the powerlines at the end of the runway, so he banked the airplane to the left and made a hard landing in the grass which resulted in substantial damage to the firewall, lower forward fuselage, and rudder. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's decision to takeoff with a tailwind in high density altitude conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/16/2011
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Paxton
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60957
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 402655N
Event Location Longitude 0880740W
Event Location Airport Paxton Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1C1
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 Pilot
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 12000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 225
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 28876
NTSB Notification Source NTSB CmCtr - Pilot
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 19 2011 11:27AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9040W
NTSB Number CEN11CA486
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 HAMLIN JOHN D
Aircraft Model CH701
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3978
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 25 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 37
Airframe Hours 363
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HAMLIN JOHN D
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1507 N BLUE BARN RD
Aircraft Owner City BLOOMFIELD
Aircraft Owner State IN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 47424
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Shawn D, Bennett
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Danville
Operator State IL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 61834
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 1C1
Departure City Paxton
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PRG
Destination City Paris
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 24 2011 7:31PM
User who most recently changed record sulp
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 3409
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --