Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bartlesville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bartlesville, Oklahoma 74003
Saturday, June 1, 1996 14:12 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Both the Fairchild KR-31, N7780, and the Waco QCF, N12428, were occupied by a PIC and a pilot-rated passenger. Witnesses observed both biplanes collide at the downwind/base position and descend uncontrolled to the ground. Left wing portions from each biplane were found at the initial impact site. The lower left wing outboard section of the Waco was found between the left wings of the Fairchild. The Fairchild did not have an electrical system. The Waco was equipped with navigation lights and an electrical system; however, the type and status of avionics equipment could not be determined due to the postimpact fire damage. A light gun was available in the temporary control tower; however, it was not being used at the time of the collision, and neither biplane was in communication with the tower in Class D airspace. An ATC letter to the airport indicated that ATC would separate arriving and departing traffic, with ground movement by airport management, operators and pilots, with safety items/factors brought to the attention of ATC prior to the operation of the tower. The biplane association and the airport representatives stated that the tower was a 'control tower' and applicable control airspace procedures were expected by ATC and the pilots. Neither the NBA nor the airport had established rigid communication, routing and altitude procedures for the fly-by period, and pilot briefings were not conducted. In tension with the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, the Federal Aviation Administration did not offer and/or provide the NBA and airport authorities with clearly delineated insight and guidance that fostered the safest use of the airspace during the fly-in.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of each pilot-in-command to maintain visual lookout. Factors were: the lack of each pilot-in-command obtaining/maintaining communication with the control tower, and inadequate lookout by each pilot-rated passenger, the inadequate procedures/directives by the biplane association management and the airport management, and inadequate supervision by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/1/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1412 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | BARTLESVILLE |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 74003 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BARTLESVILLE MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BVO |
| 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 | 713 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1346 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BVO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 713 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 30 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1132 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 1 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1414 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7780 | N12428 |
| NTSB Number | FTW96FA234A | FTW96FA234B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Fairchild | Waco |
| Aircraft Model | KR-31 | QCF |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | KR-31 | QCF |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 223 | 3569 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2078 | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 26 1996 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1678 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM F. WATSON | JOHN D. HALTERMAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ROUTE 2 BOX 838 A | 3127 CREVE COEUR MILL ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLLINSVILLE | SAINT LOUIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74021 | 63146 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | ||
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ||
| Operator City | ||
| Operator State | ||
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | ||
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BVO | BVO |
| Departure City | ||
| Departure State | ||
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1345 | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ||
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 | 35 |
| Runway Length | 6200 | 6200 |
| Runway Width | 100 | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |