Manning Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jefferson, Texas 75657
Thursday, October 24, 1996 13:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the arrival approach at the private sod/grass airport, the field was circled twice in order to survey the landing area. The pilot observed that the entire grass field including the runway had been mowed and the runway was not marked. Trees were observed at the approach end of the runway and an upslope of 25 degrees for the landing threshold was noted. During the landing roll left of the center line of the sod/grass runway, the left wing struck a fence and a steel corner post and the wing separated from the airplane. The pilot reported that he did not see the fence parallel to runway 25 (3,000 feet long and 100 feet wide).

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point, and his failure to maintain clearance from the fence. A factor was the fence post.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/24/1996
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City JEFFERSON
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75657
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport MANNING FIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6F7
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 327
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1247 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID GGG
Elevation of weather observation facility 365
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 8000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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 Minor
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1538
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 24 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1711
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:24AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N881T
NTSB Number FTW97LA025
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 S35
Aircraft Series Identifier S35
Aircraft Serial Number 7764
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 1 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 3200
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILLIS N. CLARK
Aircraft Owner Street Address CLARK RANCH ROUTE 2
Aircraft Owner City MIAMI
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 79059
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 T47
Departure City WICHITA FALLS
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1210
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 6F7
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
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 25
Runway Length 3600
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --