ATL04LA006

Factual narrative

On October 4, 2003, at 1335 central daylight time, a Piper J-3, N38272, registered to and operated by the commercial pilot, collided with an object on the stunt car during an attempted takeoff at an air show at the McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport in Jackson, Mississippi. The exhibition flight was being conducted under the provision of Title 14 CFR Part 91 and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated at the McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport Jackson, Mississippi, on October 4, 2003, at 1330. 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 with the airplane approximately 90-degrees to the initial direction of travel. The left main landing gear contacted the ground and collapsed. The right main land gear collapsed and the prop struck the ground simultaneously. At this point the nose of the aircraft was 180-derees from the direction of travel. The airplane continued sliding down the runway spinning an additional 360-degrees before coming to rest again pointing 180-degrees to the intended takeoff direction. The pilot immediately egressed the airplane uninjured. Damage consisted of the left front spar, left rear spar, left main landing gear leg, right main landing gear leg, propeller, engine, left horizontal stabilizer left elevator right horizontal stabilizer leading edge vertical stabilizer leading edge and the tail wheel assembly. Airplane maintenance logbooks were not recovered for examination. 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. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12