Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ratcliff, Texas 75858
Sunday, January 16, 1994 12:58 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
BEFORE DEPARTING ON A FLIGHT FROM GALVESTON TO TYLER,TEXAS, THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT WAS ADVISED THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRPLANE CRASHED ALONG THE ROUTE NEAR RATCLIFF, TEXAS. WITNESSES INDICATED THAT BEFORE THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED, THE AIRCRAFT WAS MANEUVERING IN THE AREA. ACCORDING TO THEM, THERE WAS AN INTERUPTION IN THE SOUND OF THE ENGINE, THEN IT REVVED TO A HIGH POWER SETTING AS THE AIRCRAFT WENT INTO A DIVE & CRASHED. AN EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THAT AN IN-FLIGHT BREAKUP OF THE AIRCRAFT OCCURRED. BOTH HORIZONTAL STABILATORS & THE OUTBOARD SECTION OF THE RIGHT WING HAD FAILED. THEY WERE FOUND ABOUT 400 FEET SHORT OF WHERE THE MAIN WRECKAGE HAD IMPACTED. ABOUT 28 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST AT LUFKIN, THE WEATHER WAS IN PART: 1200' BROKEN, 4 MILES VISIBILITY WITH HAZE, FOG & DRIZZLE. ONE WITNESS ESTIMATED THE AIRPLANE WAS FLYING AT ABOUT 1000' AGL WHEN HE FIRST SAW IT. THE INVESTIGATION DID NOT VERIFY WHETHER THE AIRPLANE WAS MANEUVERING ABOVE OR BELOW THE BASE OF THE CLOUDS BEFORE IT BROKE UP.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE AND ALLOWED IT TO EXCEED ITS DESIGN STRESS LIMITS, WHICH RESULTED IN OVERLOAD FAILURE OF THE STABILATORS AND RIGHT OUTBOARD WING SECTION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/16/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1258 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | RATCLIFF |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75858 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1224 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LFK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 296 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 500 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 94 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 16 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1325 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 25 2006 4:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6522P |
| NTSB Number | FTW94FA065 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-1644 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 28 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 44 |
| Airframe Hours | 2894 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LACKEY, UPTON L. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2726 23RD AVE. NORTH |
| Aircraft Owner City | TEXAS CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77590 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GLS |
| Departure City | GALVESTON |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TYR |
| Destination City | TYLER |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 22 2002 2:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |