Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Abilene Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Abilene, Texas 79600
Tuesady, March 4, 1997 10:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Landing runways were 17L and 22. The crew requested runway 35R. During the landing roll, when the first officer engaged the nose wheel steering, the airplane made an unexpected left turn. The crew applied right rudder and right brake; however, the airplane exited the runway. Winds were from the S/SW at 12 knots gusting to 24 knots. No previous discrepancies for the nose wheel steering were noted. During a postincident maintenance taxi check, the 'aircraft made a left turn that increased it's rate rapidly.' Maintenance personnel removed and replaced the #4 brake assembly, repaired a shorting wire at the nose wheel steering power lever switch, and replaced the power lever switch. The company computed a 13 knot tailwind (company limit 10 kts) and stated that skid marks on the runway 'seem to indicate a high rate of speed very late in the landing roll.' When the nose wheel steering actuator was removed and tested, no discrepancies were found. The director of operations commented that the incident 'would not have occurred had the aircraft been landed into the wind' and that 'possible inadvertent disconnection of the steering system was [a] contributing factor.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flightcrew's failure to maintain aircraft control. Factors were the tailwind and a partial nosewheel steering failure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/4/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | ABILENE |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79600 |
| 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 | ABILENE REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ABI |
| 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 | 1790 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1790 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| 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 | 12 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5005 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 3 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1050 |
| 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 | N373PH |
| NTSB Number | FTW97IA120 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Swearingen |
| Aircraft Model | SA227-AC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SA227-AC |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 538 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 14500 |
| 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 | 212 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 29 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 106 |
| Airframe Hours | 26593 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAPITAL ASSOCIATES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7175 W. JEFFERSON AVE STE 4000 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKEWOOD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80235 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CONQUEST AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2215 E. M. FRANKLIN |
| Operator City | AUSTIN |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 78723 |
| Operator Code | SWHA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AUS |
| Departure City | AUSTIN |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 920 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ABI |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| 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 | 35R |
| Runway Length | 7199 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |