Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Skywest Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Midland, Texas 79706
Saturday, June 13, 1998 14:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot lost control of the tailwheel equipped airplane when the wind shifted to a gusty tailwind during the landing roll. Witness observed the airplane execute a 'nice wheel landing on the centerline' of runway 16. After all 3 wheels were on the ground, the airplane started drifting to the left of the centerline. The left main wheel went off the pavement and as the right wing started to come up, the pilot advanced the engine to full power. The witness stated that he looked back at the windsock, he noticed that the winds had suddenly shifted from a quartering headwind, to a gusting quartering tailwind. The airplane cleared the airport's perimeter fence; however, the left wing of the airplane impacted a power line pole. The winds at the Midland International Airport, located 9 nautical miles to the northwest were reported from 230 degrees at 11 knots. In the enclosed NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the pilot reported that the winds were from the southwest at 15 knots, gusting to 20 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadvertent ground loop during the landing roll. A factor was the sudden windshift.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/13/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | MIDLAND |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79706 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SKYWEST AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 7TX6 |
| 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 | 2800 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MAF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2800 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 39 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 944 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 13 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1741 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N42559 |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA265 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | J3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | J3 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 14840 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1170 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 22 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 3422 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM H. HOGG |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10800 EAST COUNTRY ROAD 109 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIDLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79706 |
| 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 | MAF |
| Departure City | MIDLAND |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 45 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |