Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lafayette, Louisiana 70509
Tuesady, July 23, 1996 21:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had received a two hour check out in the Glasair RG kit-built airplane on 6/23/96, then he next flew it on the day of the accident (7/23/96). He was receiving VFR flight following from Houston Center and was detouring around an area of thunderstorm activity, when radar contact was lost about 5 miles northwest of Lafayette, Louisiana. Three days later, the aircraft was located east of the Lafayette Regional Airport, about 5 miles from the end of runway 29. Impact occurred in an unpopulated, unlit, and densely wooded area. Examination of the accident area revealed that the aircraft initially impacted trees in a shallow descent, while on a heading of 345 degrees. Glasair pilots reported that static discharges are relatively common and discharges always interfere with the comm/nav radios, sometimes causing damage. Examination of the airplane's radios revealed the comm/nav radios had numerous shorted circuits. An examination of a navigational light bulb revealed the filament had melted and that the metal had pooled, but there was no elongation of the filament. Examination of the aircraft and engine did not disclose any pre-mishap discrepancy.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain proper altitude (and clearance above wooded terrain), while diverting to an alternate destination. Factors relating to the accident were: the loss of the comm/nav equipment as a result of an electrostatic discharge, darkness, the lack of visual cues (dark hole effect), and the pilot's lack of experience in the Glasair RG.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2115 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | LAFAYETTE |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70509 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2051 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LFT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 42 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1262 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 26 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1245 |
| 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 | N127E |
| NTSB Number | FTW96FA319 |
| 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 | Chester |
| Aircraft Model | GLASAIR RG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | GLASAIR RG |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 578 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 2 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 937 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLES I. THRASH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4838 WEST AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78213 |
| 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 | 5C1 |
| Departure City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1840 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | F89 |
| Destination City | WINNSBORO |
| Destination State | LA |
| 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 | -- |