Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Stuttgart Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Stuttgart, Arkansas 72160
Thursday, November 27, 1997 17:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the cabin door popped open while in cruise flight approximately 10 minutes after takeoff. The pilot added that 'the airplane began to buffet and vibrate.' He further stated that 'the wind noise in the cabin made communications difficult' and the pilot's 12 year old son, who was seated in the right front seat, 'became excited and scared.' The pilot asked Little Rock Approach Control for a vector to the Stuttgart Municipal Airport to land and secure the cabin door. During arrival over the airport, the pilot circled the airport as he attempted to activate the pilot controlled runway lights by clicking on frequency 122.9; however, the pilot was unable to activate any of the runway lights. UNICOM frequency 122.8 MHz was listed as the published frequency to activate the runway lights. The pilot attempted to land on a runway that had been closed and abandoned for over 10 years; its surface was reported to have been partly torn off.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to activate the runway lights, which led to his selection of a closed/abandoned runway for the landing. Factors relating to the accident were: the unlatched cabin door, and the lack of lighting conditions at dusk.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/27/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | STUTTGART |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72160 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | STUTTGART MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SGT |
| 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 | 224 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 125 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 224 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 853 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 27 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1905 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2954L |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA059 |
| 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 | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 670487 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2740 |
| 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 | Mar 6 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 71 |
| Airframe Hours | 4180 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TIGER INVESTMENT CO. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CALVIN A. BOHANNON |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 715 SKYLINE DRIVE |
| Operator City | N. LITTLE ROCK |
| Operator State | AR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 72116 |
| 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 | 5M1 |
| Departure City | DE WITT |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LIT |
| Destination City | LITTLE ROCK |
| Destination State | AR |
| 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 | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |