West Houston Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Houston, Texas 77094
Thursday, July 13, 2000 21:40 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

As the airplane, which was on a dark night cross-country flight, neared the destination airport, the pilot radioed the airport's unicom and requested an airport advisory. The pilot was advised that the active runway was 15, with left hand traffic. Approximately 3-5 minutes later, the pilot radioed, "we've lost power requesting emergency landing." The pilot of a helicopter, which was inbound for landing at the airport, stated that he heard the pilot of the accident airplane call the airport's unicom and state that he had "lost all the power." The airplane impacted trees and came to rest in a densely wooded area, approximately 1,400 feet southwest of the approach end of runway 33. The airplane was destroyed by impact damage and fire. No structural or mechanical anomalies were observed during the post accident examination of the airplane. Disassembly of the engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have resulted in a loss of power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of engine power for an undetermined reason during maneuvering. Contributing factors were the dark night light conditions and the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/13/2000
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2140
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City HOUSTON
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77094
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 WEST HOUSTON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IWS
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 112
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2150 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 175
Weather Observation Facility ID SGR
Elevation of weather observation facility 82
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 84
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 70
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 1707
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) 10663
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 13 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2245
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Oct 9 2001 3:21PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8263R
NTSB Number FTW00FA208
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 None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bellanca
Aircraft Model 17-30A
Aircraft Series Identifier 17-30A
Aircraft Serial Number 30447
Certified Max Gross Weight 3325
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 Nov 3 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LUTHER T. SEBREN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 18902 GROSBEAK LANE
Aircraft Owner City TOMBALL
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77375
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 CXO
Departure City CONROE
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code IWS
Destination City
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 23 2001 4:00AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 3955
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --