Albany Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Albany, Oregon 97321
Saturday, October 12, 1996 8:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A Cessna 172 and an Ensey SA-750 (Acroduster) biplane had flown to the Albany Airport as part of a three-ship group. The Cessna entered the pattern on a left base approximately the same time as the SA-750 entered the pattern on a 45 degree entry to a left downwind. The Cessna pilot had the SA-750 in sight as the Cessna was entering the pattern, but the SA-750 pilot never saw the Cessna once the two aircraft arrived in the vicinity of the airport. Although the pilots of both aircraft made all standard position calls while in the pattern, the pilot of the SA-750, which was being flown at 80 MPH on final, failed to maintain sufficient clearance between his aircraft and the preceding Cessna, which was being flown about 65 MPH on final. Subsequently, the SA-750 converged on the Cessna from behind. Shortly after the two airplanes touched down on the runway, they collided. According to the SA-750 pilot, the first time he saw the Cessna was about one second before impact on the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the SA-750 pilot to see-and-avoid the Cessna 172, which had landed ahead of him on the same runway. The inherent visual restrictions of the SA-750 (a tandem two-place biplane) was a related factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/12/1996
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 815
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City ALBANY
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97321
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ALBANY MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID S12
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 223
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
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) --
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1393
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 12 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 835
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Apr 7 2001 12:43PM
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 N9579H N94WE
NTSB Number SEA97LA014A SEA97LA014B
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 Substantial Substantial
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna Ensey
Aircraft Model 172M SA-750 (ACRODUSTER)
Aircraft Series Identifier 172M SA-750 (AC
Aircraft Serial Number 17266242 1
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300 1800
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No Yes
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4 2
Number of Engines 1 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 14 1995 12:00AM Mar 22 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 122 97
Airframe Hours 4040 153
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown Unknown
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name JIMMY L. HUTCHINS JOSEPH W. ENSEY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3126 N.W. AUTUMN 3510 N.E. DORCHESTER WAY
Aircraft Owner City CORVALLIS CORVALLIS
Aircraft Owner State OR OR
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97330 97330
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 Yes No
Departure Point Same as Event No No
Departure Airport Code CVO CVO
Departure City CORVALLIS CORVALLIS
Departure State OR OR
Departure Country
Departure Time 800 800
Departure Time Zone PDT PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code S12 S12
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing Landing
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo dbo
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34 34
Runway Length 3004 3004
Runway Width 75 75
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --