- Date
- September 5, 1983, 17:35 local (22:35 UTC)
- Place
- Pell City, AL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N82CJJohnston Long E-Z
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830905046319A
- Case key
- 6187
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft crashed while attempting a downwind takeoff in high winds and heavy rain. The pilot said he was trying to take off before the heavy rain so he picked a rwy pointing into clear weather but with a tailwind. The tailwind increased during the takeoff with gusts to 39 KTS. The acft crashed about 500 yards off the departure end of the rwy.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N82CJ
- Reported as
- Johnston Long E-Z
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 377
- Airframe hours
- 115
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- J. Carlin Johnston
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 27, 1983 · 115 hours before
- Destination
- Austin, TX
- Airport
- PLR · St. Clair County, runway 20, 4,200 × 80 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,755 total · 126 in this make and model · 1,617 as pilot in command · 122 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 28 knots, gusting 39
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ANB, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.