Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Umbarger, Texas 79091
Thursday, October 12, 2000 6:25 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Dark night conditions prevailed under overcast skies when the non-instrument rated private pilot took off to fly his single engine airplane form his private airstrip to an airport located 29 nautical miles from his airfield. The pilot often used his airplane to commute to and from his place of employment. The accident occurred in a very sparsely populated area that lacked visual cues at night. The airplane impacted a level cultivated field in a nose down attitude while in a left turn, approximately 2 nautical miles north-northeast (021 degrees) from the point of departure. The 254-hour pilot had accumulated a total of 51 hours in the same make and model airplane, a total of 17.5 hours of night time, and 2.5 hours of simulated instrument time. There was no record of a distress call from the aircraft. No anomalies were found with the airframe or engine that could have contributed to the accident. Radar data indicated the airplane departed from the coordinates of the home landing strip and tracked somewhat of a direct course toward the intended destination bearing north northwest at altitudes ranging from 4,100 feet to 4,800 feet MSL. The data showed the airplane in a left turn bearing almost west for about 10 seconds before the radar returns ended abruptly. The accident site was located about 1/2 mile north of the last radar return. The radar data did not show a gradual descent. The last return showed the airplane at 4,700 feet MSL, and then no returns. The reported cloud cover in the area at the time of the accident was 1,600 feet overcast. The terrain elevation was 3,700 feet MSL.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control due to spatial disorientation. Contributing factors were the low ceilings, the dark night illumination, the lack of visual cues, and the pilot's lack of instrument flight qualification or experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/12/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 625 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | UMBARGER |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79091 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | 223 |
| Airport Elevation | 3650 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 553 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 43 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3650 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 11825 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 12 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2002 9:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5108R |
| NTSB Number | FTW01FA003 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | B19 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | B19 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | MB-642 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 15900 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN K. SWIFT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 130 |
| Aircraft Owner City | UMBARGER |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79091 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | UNK |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | 620 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AMA |
| Destination City | AMARILLO |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 10:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SNYG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |