Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cassville, Missouri 65625
Thursday, July 2, 1998 14:15 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot and his passenger were enroute to their destination when they became aware that they were approaching a line of thunderstorms from behind. The pilot decided to make a precautionary landing due to the convective weather in the area and wait for the line of thunderstorms to move further from their route. During approach to the landing area, the aircraft struck a power line, approximately 35' above ground level (agl), and the pilot executed a run-on landing. The aircraft impacted the ground resulting in substantial damage to the landing skids, rotor blades, and tail boom. The pilot stated that he was aware of the thunderstorms from watching a television weather broadcast, but thought the line of storms had moved past his route of flight when he had made his departure. There were no Flight Service Station (FSS) or Direct User Access Terminal System (Duats) pilot briefings given for the aircraft in question. The pilot stated that there were no aircraft mechanical problems related to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot in command's inadequate preflight planning/preparation and weather evaluation that resulted in flight into adverse weather conditions. Factors to the accident were a preflight briefing service not being used and the transmission wire.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/2/1998
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1415
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CASSVILLE
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 65625
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 7
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 1400 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 65
Weather Observation Facility ID ASG
Elevation of weather observation facility 1353
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 51
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 2016
Intensity of Precipitation Heavy
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 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 401
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 2 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2208
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 16 2001 11:55AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8329B
NTSB Number CHI98LA239
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 Robinson
Aircraft Model R-44
Aircraft Series Identifier R-44
Aircraft Serial Number 0219
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
Aircraft Category Helicopter
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Mar 24 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15
Airframe Hours 700
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILLIAM RAY STOKELY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 10111 EAST 45TH PLACE
Aircraft Owner City TULSA
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 74146
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PVT
Departure City TULSA
Departure State OK
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PLK
Destination City BRANSON
Destination State MO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2001 6:29PM
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 --