Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Marion County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marion, South Carolina 29574
Friday, June 13, 2014 13:03 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On June 13, 2014, about 1303 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built 2/3 P-51 B/C Mustang airplane, N51BM, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Marion County Airport (MAO), Marion, South Carolina. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to the pilot's wife, on the day of the accident the pilot told her that he had planned only to taxi the airplane to "circulate the oil." She observed the pilot perform a preflight inspection, start the engine, then taxi to the runway, where he remained at idle for "5 to 6 minutes" prior to taking off. The airplane lifted off the runway about "midfield," and the pilot retracted the landing gear. The wife described the airplane's initial climb as "normal". After reaching the end of the runway, the airplane made a "sharp left turn", "sank" and entered a "nose dive." The airplane disappeared from view behind trees, and she subsequently heard the sound of impact. She reported that she did not hear any engine roughness or interruption of power during the takeoff.
Another witness observed the airplane depart and begin a "shallow" climb to the south. The witness' view of the airplane was momentarily obstructed, but as the airplane came back into view, he observed it in a nose-low attitude as it descended towards the ground. The witness also reported no engine roughness or interruption of power.
The airplane came to rest in a cornfield about 0.5 nm south of MAO. The debris path was oriented 078 degrees magnetic, and the main wreckage was oriented on a heading of 258 degrees magnetic. The empennage and most of the fuselage remained intact and the engine cowling had separated. The wings were intact with the leading edges resting against the cockpit. Both wings also exhibited significant aft crush damage along their leading edges. All four propeller blades were separated from the propeller hub, and three of the blades exhibited chordwise scratching. The fourth propeller blade was separated into fragments that were scattered between the initial impact point and main wreckage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/13/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1303 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Marion |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29574 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341002N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0792035W |
| Event Location Airport | MARION COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MAO |
| 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 | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 92 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1315 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MAO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 92 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMAO 131715Z AUTO 27008KT 10SM BKN047 BKN050 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern 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 30 2014 2:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N51BM |
| NTSB Number | ERA14FA289 |
| 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 | MEYER CLAIR O |
| Aircraft Model | 2/3 P 51B/C MUSTANG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1841 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SHERBERT JOHN M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | FLORENCE |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 295057606 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SHERBERT JOHN M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | FLORENCE |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 295057606 |
| 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 | MAO |
| Departure City | MARION |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1302 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MAO |
| Destination City | MARION |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2014 2:36PM |
| 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 | -- |