Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Findlay Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Findlay, Ohio 45840
Saturday, December 20, 1997 7:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was to fly the Chief Executive Officer home for the weekend. Several witnesses heard the airplane takeoff, and also heard the impact. A witness driving on the southbound lane of State Route 15 said she observed a white light and a green light pass in front of her car, and then an explosion followed. After departing on runway 18, the airplane impacted the tops of 75 foot high trees in a wooded area, along the east side of the airport approximately mid-way between the runway and accident site. The aircraft then impacted the edge of a road, continued across a service road and ditch, and was destroyed by fire. Paint chips and broken limbs along the wreckage path indicated a general magnetic heading of 114 degrees and 7 feet of the outboard section of left wing was found about 150 feet from the initial ground impact point. The manipulator of the controls at the time of the accident could not be determined, as the pilot in command, a certificated airline transport pilot, occupied the right front seat, and the non-instrument rated private pilot occupied the left front seat. The reported weather at the time of the accident was ceiling 100 feet, visibility 1/4 mile in fog. Dawn lighting conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot-in-command's failure to obtain/maintain clearance with objects during the initial climb. Contributing factors were trees, fog, and the flying pilot's failure to maintain runway heading during the initial climb.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/20/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | FINDLAY |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45840 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FINDLAY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FDY |
| 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 | 812 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 650 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FDY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 812 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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) | 1884 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 20 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 803 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5050G |
| NTSB Number | IAD98FA018 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A 36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A 36 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-846 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | Nov 24 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2253 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | G F AVIATION INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 401 OLIVE STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | FINDLAY |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45840 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FDY |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HPN |
| Destination City | WHITE PLAINS |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 6001 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |