Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gadabout Gaddis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bingham, Maine 04920
Tuesady, August 20, 2013 14:54 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 20 2013, about 1454 eastern daylight time, a Beech C23, N243RG, was substantially damaged when it impacted the waters of the Kennebec River after takeoff from Gadabout Gaddis Airport (ME08), Bingham, Maine. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The airplane was owned by the pilot and based at Augusta State Airport (AUG), Augusta, Maine. Review of fueling records indicated that the airplane departed AUG for ME08 with 25 to 30 gallons of gasoline in each of the wing tanks. The purpose of the flight was to do an appraisal of an automobile in Bingham, Maine for his automobile sales business.
During his return flight to AUG he departed from runway 31 which was a 2,000 foot long turf runway. During the takeoff, he noticed that the airspeed indicator appeared to not be working. He then physically “tapped it” with his fingers. He estimated that he was traveling about “60-70” miles per hour. He pulled back on the control wheel and about 20 feet above ground level the stall warning activated. He then pushed forward on the control wheel to gain airspeed and turned slightly up river. The right wing then made contact with some trees, and the airplane impacted the waters of the Kennebec River nose first.
Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the airplane had come to rest upright. The rear fuselage had separated from the cabin area aft of the baggage door. The flap handle was in the stowed (flaps up) position, and the propeller exhibited S-Bending.
According to FAA and maintenance records the airplane was manufactured in 1979. The airplane’s most recent annual inspection was completed on May 22, 2013. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accrued 3675.6 total hours of operation.
No weather broadcast or recording facilities were located at ME08. The reported weather at the closest weather reporting station located 29 nautical miles northeast of the accident site, at 1456, included: winds calm, 10 miles visibility, sky clear, temperature 27 degrees C, dew point 15 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 30.02 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1454 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bingham |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04920 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 450225N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0695208W |
| Event Location Airport | Gadabout Gaddis |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ME08 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 342 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GNR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1402 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 12 2013 12:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gunt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N243RG |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA370 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | C23 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | M-2150 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 22 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3676 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AYER RAYMOND L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MONMOUTH |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04259-6611 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | AYER RAYMOND L |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MONMOUTH |
| Operator State | ME |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 04259-6611 |
| 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 | ME08 |
| Departure City | Bingham |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1454 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AUG |
| Destination City | Augusta |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 12 2013 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gunt |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |