Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Robbins, North Carolina 27325
Tuesady, October 7, 1997 13:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of Beech 35, N2050W, phoned the Leesburg Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) to file a round trip IFR flight plan, but the briefing specialist inadvertently inputted the departure time as 1130 UTC instead of 1530 UTC (1130 local). The Beech flight departed VFR, and the pilot attempted to obtain an IFR clearance, but the controller advised him that there was no IFR flight plan in the system. The pilot advised the controller that he would proceed VFR. While en route, the Beech was on a north-northwesterly course, when it began to converge with Piper PA-32, N3940W, that was on a east-northeasterly course at about the same altitude. At about that time, the Beech pilot contacted an ATC facility and stated that his flight was level at 5,500 feet. He was given a discrete transponder code to squawk, and the pilot complied. The controller immediately advised the pilot that traffic was off to his left, but there was no acknowledgement. Both airplanes crashed into a rural area. An investigation revealed the nose landing gear of the Piper collided with the left wing tip of the Beech. Review of the FAR's revealed that while flying VFR between 180 and 359 degrees magnetic course, above 3,000 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot should fly at even thousand feet altitudes plus 500 feet. VFR flight between 0 and 179 degrees, above 3,000 feet agl, should be at odd thousands plus 500 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilots in both aircraft to see-and-avoid each other's airplane (inadequate visual lookout), and failure of the Beech pilot to operate his airplane at a correct Visual Flight Rules (VFR) cruising altitude for his route of flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1337 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ROBBINS |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27325 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1335 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 138 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SOP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 461 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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 | 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) | 1466 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 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 #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2050W | N3940W |
| NTSB Number | MIA98FA007A | MIA98FA007B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | 35-C33A | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 35-C33A | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CE-1 | 32-930 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 | 3400 |
| 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 | 5 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 3 1996 12:00AM | Jul 4 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63 | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 2047 | 4570 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARCHIE W. VIPPERMAN | ROBERT B. MCGEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT 1 BOX 837 | 14470 CABARRUS STATION RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | AXTON | MIDLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24054 | 28107 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | ||
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ||
| Operator City | ||
| Operator State | ||
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | ||
| 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) | Personal | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MAO | 8A6 |
| Departure City | MARION | MIDLAND |
| Departure State | SC | NC |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1300 | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MTV | ECG |
| Destination City | MARTINSVILLE | ELIZABETH CITY |
| Destination State | VA | NC |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |