Piper J3C-65 N88379

Summary

On 20 April 1986 at about 16:00 local time, a Piper J3C-65 registered N88379, operated by Francis McKinney, was involved in an accident near Bethany, New York, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

20 April 1986 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Bethany, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Bethany Hales Airstrip

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper J3C-65

Registration

N88379

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Francis McKinney

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC86FFJ01

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE ACFT CRASHED ON THE ARPT AFTER A TURN OF APRX 120 DEGREES TO AVOID 60 FT TREES AT THE DEPARTURE EDGE OF THE ARPT. THE PLT HAD USED THE GRASS BESIDE THE AIRSTRIP BECAUSE OF STANDING WATER AT PLACES ON THE RWY. THE TAKEOFF RUN WAS STARTED ABOUT 500 FT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE RWY ON THE HAY STUBBLE ADJACENT TO THE HANGAR. AUTO FUEL WAS BEING USED WITHOUT STC AUTHORIZATION. THE PLT STATED THAT THE ACFT SEEMED TO STOP CLIMBING AT ABOUT 50 FT AGL AND HE THOUGHT HE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CLEAR THE TREES AHEAD. DURING THE TURN THE ACFT STALLED AND WAS LANDED WITH THROTTLE STILL FULL OPEN ACCORDING TO THE PLT. THE THROTTLE WAS CLOSED AS THE PLANE APPROACHED SMALL TREES AND A HEDGE ROW. THESE TREES WERE HIT BY THE RT WING AND THE ACFT SWUNG RT TO A STOP. THE PLT SAID LATER THAT HE FOUND THE ELEVATOR TRIM ALMOST ALL THE WAY NOSE DOWN WHICH MADE HIM THINK THAT THE ACFT WOULD NOT CLIMB. HE SAID THAT THE 200 LB ACFT OWNER HAD FLOWN THE ACFT ON ITS LAST FLT AND SINCE HE SAT IN THE REAR SEAT HAD TRIMMED THE ACFT NOSE HEAVY.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.