Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Midland International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Midland, Texas 79711
Friday, October 3, 1997 19:16 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the landing roll of a formation flight of four North American T-6 airplanes, the lead aircraft, N13595, intended to clear the runway to the left at taxiway Mike instead of at the end of the runway. The pilot of the lead aircraft reported that he looked back to the left to check for the location of the #2 aircraft, N3195G. 'Number-two appeared to be one hundred and fifty yards back and slowing (it appeared number-two's tail was down in three point attitude).' As he proceeded to turn left to exit the runway, he looked back again and 'saw number-two was too close and coming fast.' He applied full power and made a right turn to the right side of the runway. The pilot of the #2 aircraft, reported that when the lead aircraft disappeared from his view, he 'went hard on the brakes' and headed towards the left edge of the runway. The right wing of aircraft #2 struck the vertical stabilizer of the lead aircraft. According to the Confederate Air Force, they teach in their Formation Flight Safety Seminars that during formation/staggered landings, the formation is to exit at the end of the runway. They also teach that there will be no passing of aircraft during the landing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the pilots of both airplanes to maintain clearance from each other. A factor was their failure to follow procedures/directives.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1916 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | MIDLAND |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79711 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MAF |
| 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 | 2871 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1943 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MAF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2871 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4560 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1422 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 4 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1647 |
| 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 | N13595 | N3195G |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA004A | FTW98LA004B |
| 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 | North American | North American |
| Aircraft Model | HARVARD MK IV | SNJ-5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | HARVARD MK | SNJ-5 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CCF-4-97 | 51697 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5300 | 5300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 3 1997 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8526 | 60326 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMER AIRPWR HERITAGE FLY MUSEU | AMER AIRPWR HERITAGE FLY MUSEU |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX62000 | P.O. BOX 62000 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIDLAND | MIDLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79711 | 79711 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | CONFEDERATE AIR FORCE | CONFEDERATE AIR FORCE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | 310 AIRPORT ROAD | P.O. BOX 6056 |
| Operator City | SO. ST. PAUL | OAKLAND |
| Operator State | MN | CA |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 55073 | 94603 |
| 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) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MAF | MAF |
| Departure City | ||
| Departure State | ||
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1830 | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ||
| 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 10:34AM | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34L | 34L |
| Runway Length | 9501 | 9501 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |