Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gillespie County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
Friday, March 22, 1996 12:47 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of a Cessna 172M was landing on runway 14 in winds that reportedly were from 150 to 160 degrees at 14 gusting 20 knots. According to the pilot of another airplane, the Cessna pilot's approach was 'too low, shallow, and slow.' The witness further reported that he didn't think the airplane 'would reach the runway,' and as it reached the runway, it began 'to rock indicating he was about to stall.' The pilot stated in his report, that he advanced full throttle and initiated a go-around to abort the landing. He reported that the stall horn 'went off momentarily and the plane dropped hard on the right wheel and bounced back up in the air.' The pilot further stated that during the ensuing attempted go-around, 'the stall horn began to sound again.' The aircraft impacted the ground, and a postimpact fire erupted and destroyed the airplane. The pilot had flown 2.4 hours in the last 90 days.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed during the approach and go-around, which resulted in a stall and subsequent collision with the ground. Factors relating to the accident were: the high, gusty, crosswind conditions, and the pilot's lack of recent experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/22/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1247 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | FREDERICKSBURG |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78624 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GILLESPIE COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T82 |
| 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 | 1694 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 809 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 418 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 22 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2036 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N73356 |
| NTSB Number | FTW96LA152 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172M |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17267397 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 20 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 6882 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WRIGHT FLYERS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10440 JOHN CAPE RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78216 |
| 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 | SAT |
| Departure City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1155 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | T82 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Go-around (VFR) |
| 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 | 14 |
| Runway Length | 3787 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |