- Date
- July 12, 1999, 08:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Delta, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7614ZPiper PA-25-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 46787
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 delayed aborted takeoff. A factor 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 said that this was his first season as an aerial application pilot, and this was his first takeoff from this airstrip. He was on takeoff roll with 80 gallons of applicant and 30 gallons of fuel; and, the takeoff 'seemed long to me.' He reduced the throttle to idle, and began braking. The airplane went beyond the end of the runway, hit an earthen berm, and separated the right main landing gear from the fuselage. One propeller blade and the right wing tip were bent. The pilot reported that the airstrip's elevation was 5,000 feet, the temperature was 70 degrees F., and the altimeter was 30.02 inches of mercury. The density altitude was 6,795 feet. The airplane's maximum gross weight was 2,900 pounds, and the airplane's actual weight was undetermined.
Factual narrative
On July 12, 1999, approximately 0800 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee, N7614Z, was substantially damaged when it struck terrain during an aborted takeoff near Delta, Utah. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The aircraft was being operated by Spanish Fork Flying Service, Spanish Fork, Utah, under Title 14 CFR part 137. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local aerial application flight which was originating at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed.
The pilot said that this was his first season as an aerial application pilot, and this was his first takeoff from this airstrip. He said that he was on takeoff roll with 80 gallons of applicant and 30 gallons of fuel; he reported that the takeoff "seemed long to him." He reduced the throttle to idle, and began braking. The airplane went beyond the end of the runway, hit an earthen berm, and separated the right main landing gear from the fuselage. One propeller blade and the right wing tip were bent.
The pilot reported that the airstrip's elevation was 5,000 feet, the temperature was 70 degrees F., and the altimeter was 30.02 inches of mercury. The density altitude was 6,795 feet. The airplane's maximum gross weight was 2,900 pounds, and the actual weight at takeoff was undetermined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7614Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-3723
- Airframe hours
- 7,243
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B2B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Spanish Fork Flying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 1999
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · Dirt Ag Strip
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
- 27
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 820 total · 255 in this make and model · 790 as pilot in command · 220 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- U24, 15 nm away
Other investigations on N7614Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.