Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Ranch Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cotulla, Texas 78014
Sunday, October 1, 1995 14:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES AFTER IT OVERRAN THE DEPARTURE END OF THE 2,200-FOOT GRASS STRIP DURING TAKEOFF. THE PILOT STATED THAT INITIALLY THE AIRPLANE ACCELERATED NORMALLY FOR THE SHORT FIELD TAKEOFF UNTIL ROTATION SPEED WAS ATTAINED. SOON AFTER LIFTOFF THE AIRPLANE NEVER GAINED MORE AIRSPEED 'LIKE IF SOMETHING WAS HOLDING THE AIRPLANE DOWN.' THE PILOT FURTHER STATED THAT WHEN HE REALIZED THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO CLEAR THE TREES AT THE DEPARTURE END OF THE STRIP, HE ELECTED TO ABORT THE TAKEOFF. HE DETERMINED THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS WITHIN WEIGHT AND BALANCE LIMITS, AND HE CALCULATED THE TAKEOFF DISTANCE AND DETERMINED THAT 'THEY HAD AMPLE TAKEOFF DISTANCE.' A REVIEW OF THE TAKEOFF DISTANCE CHARTS IN THE PILOT'S OPERATING HANDBOOK REVEALED THAT TO CLEAR A 50-FOOT OBSTACLE REQUIRED 2,350 FEET WITH THE FLAPS DOWN, AND 2,950 FEET WITH THE FLAPS UP.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S DELAY IN ABORTING THE TAKEOFF. A FACTOR WAS THE PILOT'S IMPROPER USE OF THE AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE DATA.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/1/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | COTULLA |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78014 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PRIVATE RANCH AIRSTRIP |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 460 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1400 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 115 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | COT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 400 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1236 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 1 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2120 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7247W |
| NTSB Number | FTW96LA002 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A36 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-2272 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3650 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 17 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 56 |
| Airframe Hours | 2121 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EXCELLENT AVIATION RENTALS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3518 TRAVIS ST. SUITE # 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOUSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77002 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1415 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | IWS |
| Destination City | HOUSTON |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 2200 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |