Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Leesburg Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leesburg, Florida 34788
Saturday, October 21, 2000 9:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of N11938, a Cessna 150L, stated that she saw the Pitts S2B, N331DM, as it turned onto the taxiway and proceeded in her direction. She said she began maneuvering the Cessna to the right to avoid the Pitts, and she did not observe the Pitts being maneuvered to avoid her airplane. She said the Pitts turned directly into her path, so she maneuvered her airplane further to the right to avoid an head on collision with the Pitts. She said she then maneuvered the Cessna to the left, and stopped short of the grass in order not to strike a taxiway light with her airplane's propeller, and at that time the left wing of the Pitts collided with the left wing of her airplane. The pilot of the Pitts said that he had been observing the Cessna, and it had been stationary prior to him proceeding onto the taxiway. He added that he could see the Cessna until he was directly in front of it and made the turn. As he taxied the Pitts, he had been watching for traffic, but was unable to see directly in front, due to the configuration of his aircraft, and it was apparently during that time that the Cessna was "off the nose" of his airplane, and out of sight, that the Cessna started moving forward. He said that he saw Cessna off to his left side for a second or two before the impact, and was able to stop, but both airplanes collided wing to wing. There were no indications that either pilot ever attempted to establish radio communications with the other.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot of N331DM to maintain a proper visual lookout and ensure adequate clearance, which resulted in a collision with N11938. A factor in the accident was the failure of each pilot to communicate with the other.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/21/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Leesburg |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34788 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Leesburg |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LEE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 77 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GNV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 152 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 55 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1000 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12820 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 21 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1905 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11938 | N331DM |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA012A | MIA01LA012B |
| 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? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna | Pitts |
| Aircraft Model | 150L | S-2B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150L | S-2B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15075716 | S305 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 | 1700 |
| 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 | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2000 12:00AM | Mar 28 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 | 58 |
| Airframe Hours | 2040 | 370 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lawrence P. Smith | TD Systems Inc., |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1531 Grove Terrace | 8812-2 Airport Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Winter Park | Leesburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32789 | 34788 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| 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? | -- | -- |
| 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) | Instructional | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LEE | LEE |
| Departure City | Leesburg | Leesburg |
| Departure State | FL | FL |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 935 | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- | -- |
| Destination City | -- | -- |
| Destination State | -- | -- |
| Destination Country | -- | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2002 9:57AM | Apr 30 2002 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- | -- |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |