Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Front Range Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watkins, Colorado 80137
Tuesady, September 4, 2012 8:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After a preflight inspection of the tailwheeled airplane, the pilot did a run up, verified flight controls, checked engine instruments, and set his flight instruments. The pilot slowly applied full power and began the takeoff roll on the runway center line. Just after the tail lifted off the ground, an unexpected wind gust came from the right and the airplane veered to the left of centerline. The pilot began corrections by applying right rudder and another gust of wind raised the right wing the airplane veered further to the left. The pilot pulled the throttle to idle in an attempt to slow down and abort the takeoff. As the airplane began to stabilize, the pilot thought that he could continue the takeoff so he began to apply full throttle, but the airplane continued to veer to the left. The pilot then immediately pulled the throttle back to idle as the airplane departed the left side of the runway. The pilot thought that he had the airplane under control at that point. While rolling on dirt aside the runway surface, the tailwheel ran over a hole and dug into the dirt and the right main wheel dug into the dirt. The pilot said that this caused the airplane to stop rolling forward. The airplane started to slide sideways and the right wing hit the ground, resulting in structural damage to the wing. The airplane came to a stop and the pilot exited the airplane uninjured. After the accident, the pilot stated that if the tailwheel of the airplane had not dug into the hole, he could have salvaged the runway departure without damage to the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control during takeoff resulting in a runway excursion. Contributing to the accident was an unexpected wind gust.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 800 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Watkins |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80137 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394703N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1043215W |
| Event Location Airport | Front Range |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FTG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5512 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1347 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FTG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5449 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 3 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KFTG 041347Z 21008KT 50SM FEW130 20/07 A3018 |
| 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) | 31579 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2013 1:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | rows |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6744J |
| NTSB Number | CEN12CA627 |
| 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 | SCHNEIDER JOHN W |
| Aircraft Model | PT-2A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 22 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCHNEIDER JOHN W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11905 E BUCKHORN WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | FRANKTOWN |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80116-9301 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SCHNEIDER JOHN W |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 11905 E BUCKHORN WAY |
| Operator City | FRANKTOWN |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80116-9301 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FTG |
| Departure City | Watkins |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FTG |
| Destination City | Watkins |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2013 6:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 8000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |