Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Woodson, Arkansas 72180
Tuesady, January 27, 1998 13:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot told individuals responding to the accident site that the airplane 'entered a steep right turn from which he was unable to pull the airplane out, so he elected to shut the engine off in order to attempt to get out of it.' The FAA inspector that responded to the accident site stated that physical evidence indicated that the airplane impacted the muddy field in a left turn in a nose down attitude. The pilot's wife reported that the pilot elected to execute a short flight to verify the accuracy of the airspeed indicator. The pilot's wife further reported that she was observing the airplane over the airport at approximately 150 feet above the ground. The airplane 'suddenly rolled into a 50 degree bank to the right' as she continued to observe the airplane enter a right spiraling turn until impact with the ground. The pilot told his wife that prior to his loss of control, 'he thought he heard the left wing strut snap.' Examination of the wreckage by the FAA inspector did not revealed any pre-existing anomalies or discontinuities that would have prevented normal operation of the homebuilt airplane. The reason for the loss of control could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inability to maintain control of the airplane for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/27/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1350 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | WOODSON |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72180 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| 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 | 1350 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LIT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 260 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 72 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 27 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1703 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N131WH |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA107 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SUTTON |
| Aircraft Model | TIERRA II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | TIERRA II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7937 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 450 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 4 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WALTER W. SUTTON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 107 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MAYFLOWER |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72106 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1335 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |