Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oswego, Illinois 60543
Friday, October 1, 1999 16:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

N300SH, a Beech D-45, was destroyed on impact with terrain following a midair collision with N5367G, a Beech T-34, during a practice maneuver by the Lima Lima Flying Squadron. Both aircraft departed in sequence from 6-ship delta formation to perform a maneuver called a pop top break. The pop top break involved each aircraft to depart from the formation in sequence by entering a climbing 180-degree turn to follow the lead aircraft in trail. The narrow area of the human eye's visual field is approximately 10-15 degrees. A video tape of the accident flight shows a delayed entry into the turn by the D-45 relative to the T-34's entry into the maneuver. The pilot of the T-34 stated that he did not see the D-45 prior to the midair collision. The Lima Lima Flying Squadron did not have procedures in place to recover or adjust for maneuvers that were not successful.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the visual lookout not obtained by the pilot of the Beech T-34 and the inadequate procedure by the Lima Lima Flying Squadron. The delayed entry into the maneuver by the pilot of the Beech D-45 was a contributing factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/1/1999
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City OSWEGO
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60543
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator Yes
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 Unknown
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 1553 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 315
Weather Observation Facility ID ARR
Elevation of weather observation facility 706
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
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) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1842
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 1 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1630
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Apr 9 2001 8:54AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N300SH N5367G
NTSB Number CHI00FA003A CHI00FA003B
Missing Aircraft Indicator N N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None None
Flight plan Was Activated? -- --
Damage Destroyed Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech Beech
Aircraft Model D-45 T-34
Aircraft Series Identifier D-45 T-34
Aircraft Serial Number CN2 BG243140909
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950 3050
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2 2
Number of Engines 1 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown Annual
Date of Last Inspection -- Sep 9 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection -- --
Airframe Hours -- --
ELT Installed Unknown Yes
ELT Activated Unknown No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown Unknown
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name LIMA LIMA FLYING SQUADRON INC GENE D MARTIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 9 S 155 CHANDELLE 9 S 015 AERO DR
Aircraft Owner City NAPERVILLE NAPERVILLE
Aircraft Owner State IL IL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60565 60564
Operator is an individual? -- --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown 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) Unknown Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No No
Departure Point Same as Event No No
Departure Airport Code LL10 LL10
Departure City NAPERVILLE NAPERVILLE
Departure State IL IL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1535 1535
Departure Time Zone CDT CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt -- --
Destination Airport Code CGX CGX
Destination City CHICAGO CHICAGO
Destination State IL IL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 9 2001 8:54AM Apr 9 2001 8:54AM
User who most recently changed record dbo dbo
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0 0
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --