Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Westminster, Texas 75485
Saturday, March 15, 1997 14:47 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a flight maneuver to videotape a passenger's residence, the pilot flew the airplane at 4 to 5 feet AGL over a road. The airplane struck a transmission line (23' 3' AGL) that crossed the road tearing off the outboard right wing and the upper rudder. The vertical height from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the vertical stabilizer and rudder measured 5'5'. The upper portion of the rudder, entangled with the transmission line, and 8' 9' of the outboard right wing were found on the road. The pilot reported that the control yoke would not go aft of neutral and the airplane descended with full throttle, suddenly rolling right and impacting the terrain inverted. The videotape shows the airplane in the flight maneuver, and throughout the flight the sound of engine power is audible and there are no visible discrepancies noted with the flight controls. During examination of the airplane, flight control continuity was confirmed and there were no preimpact discrepancies noted. From October 1993 through August 1995 the pilot logged 10.5 hrs in a PA-28R-200 airplane. Since August 1995, the pilot logged 10.0 hrs (including a flight review) in a PA-28-161 airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance during an intentional low altitude maneuver. A factor was the transmission line.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/15/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1447
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City WESTMINSTER
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75485
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 3
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 25000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
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) --
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 2
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 383
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 15 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1620
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:09PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6219J
NTSB Number FTW97FA122
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28R-200
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28R-200
Aircraft Serial Number 28R-7635322
Certified Max Gross Weight 2548
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 Feb 10 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 46
Airframe Hours 5272
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TRAVIS A. LANGFORD
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2302 BLACKBERRY DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City RICHARDSON
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75082
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name MONARCH AIR
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 4580 CLAIRE CHENNAULT
Operator City DALLAS
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 75248
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 TX05
Departure City MCKINNEY
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1422
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code ADS
Destination City DALLAS
Destination State TX
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 --