Orange County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Orange, Texas 77630
Wednesday, April 5, 2000 18:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The single-engine experimental homebuilt airplane impacted the terrain while maneuvering in day visual meteorological conditions in the local area. Witnesses heard the engine stall, quit, and restart. Other witnesses observed the airplane stall and spiral down towards the ground in a clockwise direction. The airplane impacted terrain in a nose low attitude. Flight control continuity was confirmed. According to the manufacturer representative, who examined the engine, 'there was no engine condition identified which could be directly associated to engine failure or stoppage.' It could not be determined which of the two private pilots aboard the airplane was on the flight controls at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the inadvertent stall while maneuvering. A contributing factor was the loss of engine power for an undetermined reason.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/5/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City ORANGE
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77630
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport ORANGE COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ORG
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 13
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID BPT
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
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) 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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1052
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 5 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 2 2001 3:47PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N601GJ
NTSB Number FTW00LA117
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name JOHNSON
Aircraft Model ZODIAC CH-601-HDS
Aircraft Series Identifier ZODIAC CH-
Aircraft Serial Number 6-3716
Certified Max Gross Weight 1200
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Nov 20 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 143
Airframe Hours 168
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT D. JOHNSON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1312 PINE AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City ORANGE
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77630
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code ORG
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1800
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 Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 2 2001 4:08AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22
Runway Length 4396
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --