Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ardmore Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73401
Wednesday, July 3, 1996 17:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had purchased a 50-hour block of flight time in the airplane. His flight instructor agreed to fly as a safety pilot, with the pilot as PIC in order to meet insurance requirements. The pilot was performing the takeoff, while the instructor called out airspeeds and directed his attention inside and outside the cockpit. Passing 80 mph, the instructor maintained his vision outside the cockpit. The pilot felt the airplane 'hit a few dips in the runway' and both pilots heard a 'loud bang' from the right side and the flight instructor took command of the flight. Control was lost and the airplane veered left, crossed a taxiway and skidded into a ditch, where the airplane stopped. The instructor reported that the pilot's hand was on the throttles during the takeoff roll; however, once the 80 mph airspeed callout was made, he was not aware of the position of the pilot's hand. The pilot recalled having moved his hand to the trim; however, he 'did not remember touching the gear' selector switch. The operator and an FAA inspector examined the site and the aircraft landing gear system. They reported that damage to the gear doors was consistent with closed gear doors.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent premature retraction of the landing gear during takeoff roll. A factor was inadequate supervision by the safety pilot/flight instructor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/3/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | ARDMORE |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 73401 |
| 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 | ARDMORE DOWNTOWN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1F0 |
| 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 | 842 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1748 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 324 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ADM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 842 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1083 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 3 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2033 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2992F |
| NTSB Number | FTW96LA298 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 95-A55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 95-A55 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC-500 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 22 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4385 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ITALIAN AVIATION SERVICES INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 428 OAKWOOD CIRCLE |
| Aircraft Owner City | DENTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76208 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | KEITH HICKMAN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P. O. BOX 1433 |
| Operator City | ARDMORE |
| Operator State | OK |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 73401 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 1F0 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1745 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DTO |
| Destination City | DENTON |
| 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 | 17 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |