Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hammonton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hammonton, New Jersey 08037
Saturday, August 20, 2011 13:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Lancair pilot told a witness that he was going to fly the high-performance airplane to a nearby airport to visit a friend. The pilot was aware that the nearby airport had occasional aerobatic activity near the runway, within an "aerobatic box." The box was active on the day of the accident, with a Notice to Airmen issued for aerobatic activity at 3,500 feet and below. The airplane approached the airport about 3,500 feet; however, the exact altitude could not be determined due to the fidelity of the radar/encoder data. As the airplane approached the airport at a high airspeed, likely about 190 knots, it collided with an aerobatic airplane that had just completed a hammerhead stall and was observed in a dive. The pilot's airplane cut through the aerobatic airplane's fuselage just aft of the cockpit, top to bottom, and lost about 4 feet of its left wing. The pilot's airplane then crashed into nearby woods, and the pilot of the aerobatic airplane parachuted into the same woods.
The aerobatic pilot and an observer stated that clearing turns were conducted prior to the aerobatic maneuver. However, the sun’s position and the airspeed of the oncoming airplane would have made it highly unlikely that the aerobatic pilot would have seen it. It is unknown what the inbound pilot's intentions were at the time of the accident. A relative of the inbound pilot, another pilot who had flown with him often, surmised that the pilot's approach to the airport at such a high altitude may have been an exploratory overflight, which is supported by the airplane's high airspeed at the time. Radar indicated that the pilot's airplane did not perform any standoff maneuvering prior to approaching the airport, and other pilots in the air at the time heard no advisory radio transmissions from him. During flight in visual meteorological conditions, the tenets of "see and avoid" apply. With the inbound pilot's knowledge of potential aerobatic activity at the airport, it is not known why he did not use advocated collision avoidance strategies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The Lancair pilot's failure to see and avoid the aerobatic airplane. Contributing to the accident was the Lancair pilot's inadequate use of collision avoidance strategies while inbound to an area of known potential aerobatic activity.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hammonton |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08037 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393933N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0744508W |
| Event Location Airport | Hammonton |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N81 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 65 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ACY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30553 |
| 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 | Oct 3 2012 2:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N71DM | N521BC |
| NTSB Number | ERA11FA468A | ERA11FA468B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MITCHELL DAVID N | YAKOVLEV |
| Aircraft Model | LANCAIR IV P | YAK-55M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LIV 387 | 961007 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3550 | 2800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 13 2010 12:00AM | Mar 10 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 441 | 430 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MITCHELL DAVID N | BARSUKOV KIRILL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | 61 GRAND ST #2N |
| Aircraft Owner City | VOORHEES | JERSEY CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08043-1130 | 07302 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes | No |
| Operator Name | MITCHELL DAVID N | BARSUKOV KIRILL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | VOORHEES | JERSEY CITY |
| Operator State | NJ | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 08043-1130 | 07302-4600 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VAY | N81 |
| Departure City | Mount Holly | Hammonton |
| Departure State | NJ | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | -- | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | N81 | N81 |
| Destination City | Hammonton | Hammonton |
| Destination State | NJ | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2012 2:55PM | Oct 3 2012 2:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 | 21 |
| Runway Length | 3601 | 3601 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |