Stratford Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Stratford, Texas 79084
Sunday, October 19, 1997 14:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Due to several hangars located near the approach end of the runway 4, the pilot made a high approach. The airplane touched down about 1/3 of the way down the 3,030-ft runway, and when the pilot realized that he was not going to get the airplane stopped on the runway, he veered the airplane to the right in an attempt to avoid a ditch located near the end of runway. The airplane struck the ditch, collapsing the nose gear and damaging the left wing's rear spar. The winds were from the north at 20 knots gusting to 25 knots during the approach to the runway; however, as the airplane touched down the winds changed to the north northwest.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain the proper glidepath with the airplane resulting in the airplane not touching down at the proper touchdown point on the runway. A factor was the unfavorable winds.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/19/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City STRATFORD
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79084
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 STRATFORD FIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID Q70
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 3667
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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 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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 20
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 20
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 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) 1283
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 21 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:37PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N42AM
NTSB Number FTW98LA025
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model A36TC
Aircraft Series Identifier A36TC
Aircraft Serial Number EA-29
Certified Max Gross Weight 3650
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 8 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 47
Airframe Hours 3423
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WALTER LASLEY AND SONS, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. BOX 168
Aircraft Owner City STRATFORD
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 79084
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 MKC
Departure City KANSAS CITY
Departure State MO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code Q70
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 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 4
Runway Length 3030
Runway Width 32
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --