- Date
- July 23, 1993, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Flushing, MI
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N9307NPiper PA-28R-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 9250
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning for determining the proper takeoff profile. A factor in the accident was the high density altitude.
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 pilot stated that the airplane lifted off aprx midfield. At about 50 ft AGL, he felt that the airplane would not be able to clear trees at the departure end, aborted the takeoff, and landed on a grassy area next to the runway. The density altitude was 3,300 ft.
Factual narrative
On July 23, 1993, about 1730 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-R200 airplane, N9307N, sustained substantial damage during an attempted takeoff from Dalton Airport, Flushing, Michigan. The private pilot and three passengers aboard were not injured. The personal flight operated in visual meteorological conditions under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated that the airplane lifted-off approximately mid- field. About 50' AGL, he felt the airplane would not be able to clear the trees at the departure end. He elected to perform a precautionary landing on a grassy area next to the runway. The pilot indicated there was no mechanical malfunction with the engine or airplane, but that the engine RPM seemed to be about 150-200 RPM lower after he lifted off than during the takeoff roll. He wrote that the airplane was not climbing very fast.
The air temperature at the time of the accident was approximately 85 degrees fahrenheit with a dew point of 72 degrees fahrenheit. Field elevation at the accident site is 733'. The approximate density altitude (uncompensated for humidity) at the time of the accident was 3,300'. A density altitude chart is attached.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9307N
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-35007
- Airframe hours
- 2,145
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James S. Gray
- Registered owner
- James S. Gray
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 1993 · 21 hours before
- Destination
- D82 · Boyne City, MI
- Airport
- 3DA · Dalton, runway 36, 2,500 × 75 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,700 total · 3,162 in this make and model · 3,613 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAN, 38 nm away