Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Huffman, Texas 77336
Tuesady, July 2, 1996 10:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After completing aerial application, the pilot entered a right base turn to final approach for landing at a private dirt airstrip. During the turn, a witness observed the 'the left wing' go down and 'also the nose.' The airplane crashed in a left wing low (descending) attitude. The pilot/mechanic had performed maintenance on the aircraft and had certified on March 1, 1995, that the 'aircraft has been inspected in accordance with an annual inspection and was determined to be in an airworthy condition.' Postaccident examination revealed that the empennage flight controls exhibited severe corrosion. The left elevator bellcrank assembly elevator horn was found separated from the control rod elevator torque tube. The left stabilizer strut lower attachment was separated where the tube of the strut was welded to the 'U' shaped attachment bracket. Examination of the 'U' bracket only revealed corroded remnants of the forward bracket and no evidence of the edge welds that joined the bracket pieces together. Fracture surfaces on the elevator horn were consistent with overstress separation. Manufacturing specifications required a 0.080 inch steel sheet for the elevator horn. Over the majority of the horn and near the control rod attachment fracture, the thickness was as low as 0.059 inches.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
corroded flight control components, due to the operator's inadequate maintenance and inspection of the airplane; the pilot's failure to follow procedures and directives, by flying the airplane without proper maintenance and annual inspection; and subsequent failure of a corroded flight control component.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | HUFFMAN |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77336 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1261 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 2 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N501JS |
| NTSB Number | FTW96FA288 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-400 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AT-400 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0485 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3735 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HOMER YOUNGBLOOD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | BOX 1649 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DAYTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77535 |
| 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 | AAAG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Descent - uncontrolled |
| 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 | -- |