Wittman Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901
Sunday, August 2, 1998 9:04 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A witness, who was flying in the traffic pattern, observed the jet cross the shoreline heading westbound at around 50 to 75 feet above the ground. The airplane then made an abrupt turn from west to north. The witness saw the jet descend into the trees and then he saw a fireball. Witnesses on the ground observed the airplane make a hard descending right turn, strike a power pole, and then impact the ground The pilot said that on the approach, the airplane 'developed a high sink rate of descent.' He felt that he did not get the throttles up fast enough to arrest the descent and that the right engine suffered a compressor stall. Examination of the left engine revealed foreign object damage while there was no foreign object damage to the right engine.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude which resulted in in-flight collision with trees and subsequent compressor stall for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/2/1998
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 904
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City OSHKOSH
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 54901
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport WITTMAN REGIONAL AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OSH
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 90
Airport Elevation 808
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID OSH
Elevation of weather observation facility 808
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1
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 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 480
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 2 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 910
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:41AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2741P
NTSB Number CHI98FA288
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 None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Hispano Aviacion
Aircraft Model A10B-37
Aircraft Series Identifier A10B-37
Aircraft Serial Number 20/43
Certified Max Gross Weight 7385
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 24 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 877
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name EDWARD A. SNYDER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3712 SPRING COURT S.
Aircraft Owner City LAFAYETTE
Aircraft Owner State IN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 47905
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 LAF
Departure City LAFAYETTE
Departure State IN
Departure Country
Departure Time 730
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code OSH
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 6180
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --