Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cooperstown, New York 13326
Monday, May 26, 2014 20:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 26, 2014, about 2010 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-11, N4550M, was substantially damaged when it impacted a pole barn near Cooperstown, New York. The private pilot and the passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the local flight that departed Cooperstown-Westville Airport (K23), Cooperstown, New York. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
In a statement to New York State Police, the pilot reported that after takeoff, he completed a "few" takeoffs and landings, then took a scenic flight in the vicinity of the airport. As he was preparing to land, just north of the airport about 750 feet above the ground, the pilot noticed a "considerable" loss of engine power. As in the past, he applied carburetor heat, but it was not enough to be able to climb the airplane, which was rapidly losing altitude. The pilot decided to land on the road next to the airport, but with no power, the airplane dropped over some trees and impacted a pole barn.
According to the responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the airplane came to rest 450 feet west of the centerline of runway 2/20, off the airport property abeam the north end of tee hangars that paralleled the runway, and across the road that also paralleled the runway. The airplane came to rest heading about 125 degrees magnetic.
The left wing leading edge was impact damaged, consistent with hitting a utility pole located on the west side of the road which parallels the runway. About 4 feet above the ground, the pole exhibited damage and paint transfer the same color as the airplane. Left wing damage started just outboard the fuel tank to the tip.
From photographs, there were ground scars from the utility pole to where the airplane came to rest. The airplane came to rest up against the pole barn with the left wing down to the ground, and the right wing up against the barn. The right wing was partially penetrating a corner of the pole barn, with the leading edge outside of the barn wall, and the trailing penetrating the barn wall.
The FAA inspector also noted that the left main landing gear was bent under and aft with the left main wheel and tire assembly broken off the left axel. The carburetor and air box were broken away from the engine and the carburetor heat and throttle cables were separated. The propeller had one blade bent forward slightly, while the opposite blade was bent aft; and both had leading edge tip damage. In addition, there were four ground score marks located between the utility pole and airplane consistent in appearance with propeller strikes.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/26/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2010 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cooperstown |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13326 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423745N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745328W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RME |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 503 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 42 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| 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) | 29.88 |
| 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 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 | Jun 17 2014 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4550M |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA261 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-11 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11-1009 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| 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 | TOTH FRANK L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SCHENEVUS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 121553418 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | TOTH FRANK L |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SCHENEVUS |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 121553418 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | K23 |
| Departure City | Cooperstown |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | K23 |
| Destination City | Cooperstown |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 17 2014 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |