- Date
- May 25, 1996, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- East Canton, PA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N32091Waco UPF-7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 1, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960525046909A
- Case key
- 39187
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 compensation for wind conditions, and his failure to maintain directional control, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent collision with obstacles. The gusty crosswind condition was a related factor.
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 airplane overran the runway during landing and collided with a fence and a stone pile. The pilot reported 'the approach was normal and I touched down at the intended point and rolled approximately 200 feet to the top of the slope when a gust directly across the runway put me back in the air but 90 degrees to the runway heading. I applied full power to go around, and I found myself wallowing and not really flying very well. Apparently, the wind at that point was on my tail, and with the hard rise in the terrain, I was past the limit of the (airplane). It stalled/mushed back to earth approximately 40 feet from a barbed wire fence, an a stone pile that stopped my forward travel. The craft flipped over, damaging the (propeller),(landing) gear, upper and lower wings and the top of the tail.' The pilot indicated the accident could have been prevented if '...I would have let the aircraft settle back after realignment with the runway, but at the time, I did not know that I had a tailwind...'
Factual narrative
On May 25, 1996, about 1500 eastern daylight time, a Waco UPF-7, N32091, was substantially damaged during a rejected landing at Larry's Airport, East Canton, Pennsylvania. The private pilot received minor injuries and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan had been filed for the personal flight which originated from the Vansant Airport, Erwinna, Pennsylvania, about 1330, and was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In the NTSB Accident Report, the pilot stated:
"...Upon arrival at the strip I made a pass to check the condition and check the wind sock. I noted that the wind was generally out of the west and moderate so I proceeded to downwind to land. The approach was normal and I touched down at the intended point and rolled approximately 200 to 300 feet to the top of the slope when a gust directly across the runway put me back in the air but 90 to the runway heading.
I applied full power to go around and I found myself wallowing and not really flying very well. Apparently, the wind at that point was on my tail and with the hard rise in the terrain, I was past the limit of the plane. It stalled/mushed back to earth approximately 40 [feet] from a barbed wire fence and a stone pile that stopped my forward travel. The craft flipped over, damaging the prop, gear, upper and lower wings and the top of the tail."
According to a drawing by the pilot, the runway was 1800 feet long, and the runway overrun was on rising terrain. The stone wall that the airplane struck was at the end of the overrun, 1200 feet beyond the runway end and higher than the runway.
In a statement signed by the pilot and forwarded to the Safety Board by the FAA, the pilot reported:
"...The airplane was running well and the accident was a result of a bad late decision to go around."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N32091
- Reported as
- Waco UPF-7
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32091
- Airframe hours
- 1,680
- Engine
- Continental R-670, 220 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald J. Mahr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 1996 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- 9N1 · Erwinna, PA
- Airport
- Larry Dewert, runway 22, 1,800 × 75 ft, grass/turf
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 3,500 total · 400 in this make and model · 3,100 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N32091 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.