Huntsville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Huntsville, Texas 77340
Monday, July 7, 1997 10:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the final approach to the runway, the student pilot allowed the airspeed to become slow and corrected for the airspeed loss by adding power. Subsequently, the airplane hit the ground hard when the student reduced the power, pulled the nose up, and stalled the airplane at 10 ft AGL. The flight instructor did not execute corrective action.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Inadvertent stall due to the student pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and a proper descent rate. A factor was the inadequate supervision by the flight instructor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/7/1997
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1000
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City HUNTSVILLE
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77340
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport HUNTSVILLE MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID UTS
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 366
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID UTS
Elevation of weather observation facility 366
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2200
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 24
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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) 505
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 14 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1655
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:25PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N99739
NTSB Number FTW97LA266
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Ercoupe (Eng & Research Corp.)
Aircraft Model ERCOUPE 415-C
Aircraft Series Identifier ERCOUPE 41
Aircraft Serial Number 2362
Certified Max Gross Weight 1400
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 5 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 2311
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RALPH WOODERSON & S. B. BAILEY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 202 TIMBERWILDE STREET
Aircraft Owner City HUNTSVILLE
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77340
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code UTS
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 932
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code UTS
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 18
Runway Length 5004
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --