Piper J-3-C65 N38272

Summary

On 4 October 2003 at about 18:35 local time, a Piper J-3-C65 registered N38272, operated by Paul W. Johnson, was involved in an accident near Jackson, Tennessee, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 October 2003 at 18:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Jackson, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

McKellar-Sipes Regional (MKL)

Coordinates

35.6000, -88.9167

Aircraft

Piper J-3-C65

Registration

N38272

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Paul W. Johnson

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Air Race/Show

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jackson → Jackson

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL04LA006

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper us of flight controls during an attempted takeoff, which resulted in an collision with the specially equipped automobile.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot he was involved in an air show performance of a car top takeoff and landing routine. The pilot stated that after performing the landing and waving to the crowd, he and the driver of the car lined up at the departure end of the runway and proceeded to start the take off roll. The tail of the airplane lifted off as expected. The driver of the car was to reach 43 miles per hour. the pilot stated he was watching for the latching mechanism to release the left main landing gear tire assembly first, then the right main landing gear tire. During the actuation of the release system, the forward section of the wheel stops fall forward and down to a point just below parallel with the ramps. After the tires were released he applied full power and pulled back on the control stick. The airplane rolled forward into the concave wheel stops. The tail wheel struck a support tube on the car just above the rear window then bounced slightly. For a brief moment the tail wheel was free from the structure on the car before once again becoming entangled in the left hand ramp on the car. At this point, forward movement became lateral movement to the left. As the airplane rotated and rolled to the left, the left hand elevator contacted the outside of the left hand ramp and was crushed, twisting the entire empennage. The left wing tip dipped and struck the ground.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.