Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Emporia Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Emporia, Kansas 66801
Thursday, October 23, 1997 20:17 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was on the second of a two leg IFR cross-country flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emporia, Kansas, with an intermediate stop at Farmington, New Mexico. On contacting the Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), the pilot was informed that Emporia weather was 10 miles visibility, and an overcast ceiling of 600 feet agl. At 1951 central daylight time (cdt), Kansas City ARTCC cleared the pilot for the VOR approach into the Emporia Municipal Airport. At 2002 cdt, the pilot reported that he was on the missed approach. The pilot requested another VOR approach. Kansas City ARTCC cleared the pilot for the approach, and told him to report 'established' on the approach. At 2014 cdt, the pilot reported that he was established inbound on the VOR approach. Kansas City ARTCC instructed the pilot to 'go over to advisory [frequency] and report cancellation on this frequency.' The pilot responded,' Okay, we'll go ahead and cancel IFR right now.' The airplane impacted the terrain, near Emporia Airport, at 2017 cdt. The pilot's logbook showed that he had 44.1 hours of actual instrument time. A pilot, who had departed the Emporia Airport at approximately 2000 cdt, described the weather as 'marginal, a ceiling of around 700 feet agl,' and the visibility as being 6 to 7 miles. Examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an altitude above the minimum descent altitude for the approach. Factors contributing to this accident were the low ceiling, rain, and fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/23/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2017 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | EMPORIA |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66801 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | EMPORIA MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EMP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 1206 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EMP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1206 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1324 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1869 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 23 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N305RJ |
| NTSB Number | CHI98FA022 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20K |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 250602 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Jan 9 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 119 |
| Airframe Hours | 2448 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICHARD EVERT CRIPPS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 568 WEST HWY 50 |
| Aircraft Owner City | EMPORIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 66801 |
| 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 | FMN |
| Departure City | FARMINGTON |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1601 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | EMP |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | 19 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |