Horace Williams Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516
Wednesday, February 25, 1998 20:04 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing, the aircraft bounced. When the aircraft touched down again, the pilot noticed it had turned to the left of runway heading about 30 degrees and was drifting toward the left side of the runway. He initiated a go-around. As the aircraft lifted off, the pilot lost sight of the runway lights. He then noticed the aircraft had drifted to the right and was approaching trees. He turned back to the left, the left wing dropped, and the aircraft descended and crashed to the ground. Postcrash examination of the aircraft revealed no evidence of precrash failure or malfunction of the aircraft structure, flight controls, engine, or propeller. The runway lights were found to operate normally after the accident. The pilot did not have a current FAA medical certificate for it had been denied. The pilot did not meet FAA night recency of experience requirements.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the aircraft during a go-around, followed by his failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering to avoid trees, which resulted in a stall and collision with the terrain. The pilot's lack of recent night experience was a related factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/25/1998
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2004
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City CHAPEL HILL
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 27516
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport HORACE WILLIAMS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IGX
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 512
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by pilot
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1951 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID RDU
Elevation of weather observation facility 436
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
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) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 400
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 3
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 115
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 25 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2245
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 10:48AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4356V
NTSB Number MIA98LA088
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 195
Aircraft Series Identifier 195
Aircraft Serial Number 7317
Certified Max Gross Weight 3350
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 7 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 45
Airframe Hours 2189
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DEAN N. ESSIG
Aircraft Owner Street Address 104 WEST 4TH STREET
Aircraft Owner City HOMER
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 61849
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 IOB
Departure City MOUNT STERLING
Departure State KY
Departure Country
Departure Time 1850
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code IGX
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Go-around (VFR)
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 27
Runway Length 4005
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --