Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ben Wheeler, Texas 75754
Monday, June 26, 1995 9:37 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN FULLY FUELED BEFORE TWO LARGE INDIVIDUALS WITH THEIR EQUIPMENT GOT INTO THE AIRCRAFT FOR AN AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC FLIGHT IN THE LOCAL AREA. THE MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDED MAXIMUM GROSS TAKEOFF WEIGHT FOR THIS AIRCRAFT IS 1,675 POUNDS AND THE CALCULATED TAKEOFF WEIGHT WAS 1,764.3 POUNDS. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE 'FLYING MUCH TOO LOW AND SLOW JUST ABOVE THE TREES.' THE WITNESSES STATED THAT 'THE PLANE SURE DID WOBBLE' AND IT APPEARED TO THEM THAT 'THE AIRPLANE WAS GOING TO SLOW TO STAY UP.' ANOTHER WITNESS OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE'S 'MOTOR WAS CUTTING OUT' AND 'THEN HE HIT THE TREE THEN THE GROUND.' ANOTHER WITNESS OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE GO 'STRAIGHT DOWN' AND THAT 'HE DID NOT CLIP A TREE.' THE AIRPLANE CAME TO REST ON THE NORTH EDGE OF A GROUP OF TREES 25 TO 30 FEET HIGH IN A NOSE DOWN POSITION. AN EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED NO INDICATIONS OF ANOMALIES THAT COULD HAVE AFFECTED ITS PERFORMANCE. THE FLAPS WERE FOUND IN A 7 DEGREE DOWN POSITION. LEAVES AND TWIGS WERE FOUND IN THE LEFT MAIN GEAR WHEEL FAIRING WHICH MATCHED THE LEAVES ON THE TREES AT THE ACCIDENT SITE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INTENTIONAL LOW LEVEL FLYING AND NOT MAINTAINING A CLEARANCE FROM THE TREES. A FACTOR WAS THE PILOT EXCEEDED THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE GROSS WEIGHT OF THE AIRPLANE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/26/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 937 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | BEN WHEELER |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75754 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 847 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 295 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TYR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 544 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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) | 1094 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 26 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1310 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4963H |
| NTSB Number | FTW95FA259 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15284048 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1675 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 17 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 6019 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TYLER AERO COMPANY OF TEXAS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 4178 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TYLER |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75701 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TYR |
| Departure City | TYLER |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| 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 | -- |