Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Memorial Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pearcy, Arkansas 71964
Friday, January 29, 1999 16:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the global positioning system (GPS) runway 5 approach to Hot Springs Memorial Airport, in instrument meteorological conditions, the twin-engine airplane impacted mountainous terrain at 1,020 feet msl, about one nautical mile (nm) right of the final approach course, and approximately 9 nm southwest of the airport. According to the approach plate, the airplane should have been at an altitude no lower than 2,300 feet on this segment of the approach. The last radar hit recorded was at 1622:44, as the airplane was descending through 2,800 feet, 14.2 nautical miles southwest of the airport. Two witnesses located near the accident site reported that about 1630 they heard a small aircraft coming from southwest of their farm, heading towards them at a 'very low' altitude. They heard the aircraft for about 10 seconds, then the sound of the engines was 'gone.' The witnesses also reported that the weather was 'extremely foggy,' and that they could not see the top of the mountain located behind their property. The missed approach procedure for the approach calls for a climbing right turn to 3,000 feet. Examination of the accident site indicated the airplane impacted trees while in a right turn. No anomalies were found with the airframe or engines that would have prevented normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain the minimum descent altitude during the instrument approach. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to follow the instrument approach procedure, trees, mountainous terrain, low ceilings and foggy weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/29/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | PEARCY |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71964 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MEMORIAL FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HOT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 228 |
| Airport Elevation | 540 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1619 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 48 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HOT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 540 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1185 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 30 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 909 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N260LH |
| NTSB Number | FTW99FA074 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 95-B55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 95-B55 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC-1426 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 25 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 158 |
| Airframe Hours | 3912 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HI TECH ENGINEERING INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 400 AVIATION PLZ., SUITE C |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOT SPRINGS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 71913 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HBG |
| Departure City | HATTIESBURG |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1416 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HOT |
| Destination City | HOT SPRINGS |
| Destination State | AR |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 5 |
| Runway Length | 6595 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |