Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbus, Nebraska 68601
Saturday, July 15, 2000 18:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed after impacting power lines and terrain. Witnesses reported that the aircraft was flying at a low altitude when it hit the power lines. One witness stated that he had seen the aircraft "...flying low one time before down river." The azimuth and elevation of the sun were found to be 276.4 degrees and 25.9 degrees respectively. The wreckage path started about 100 feet from a set of approximately 60-foot high power lines and was oriented on an approximately 260-degree magnetic heading. The main wreckage was located about 440 feet from the power lines. The aircraft was equipped with a "V-tail" empennage. The tail surfaces were examined and both were found to have leading edge damage at the mid-span location. The leading edge skins of both surfaces were torn and exhibited longitudinal scratches back to the spar/stringer location. The entire tail assembly was broken loose from the airframe at the mount. The tail assembly was found about halfway between the power lines and the main wreckage. No anomalies, with regard to the airframe, engine, or systems were detected that could be associated with a preexisting condition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the pilot to maintain clearance from the power line. Factors were the sunglare and the wire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/15/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | COLUMBUS |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68601 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| 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 | 1855 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 339 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OLU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1440 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| 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) | 88 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 72 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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 | 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10446 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 15 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 7 2001 7:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N947V |
| NTSB Number | CHI00FA200 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-880 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 20 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 160 |
| Airframe Hours | 3841 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT G TOD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 148 LAKE PL S |
| Aircraft Owner City | DANBURY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06810 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Aug 12 2001 4:00AM |
| 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 | -- |