Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Katy, Texas 77449
Sunday, November 26, 2000 17:10 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Cessna 172 was flying level at 2,000 feet, eastbound, when the pilot noticed the Cessna 150 approaching from her left side at a 90-degree angle (from the north). She reported that the Cessna 150 was at an altitude slightly below her airplane's altitude. She entered a climbing right turn and, subsequently, the airplanes collided. The Cessna 172's right main landing gear separated and its right wing and aileron were structurally damaged. The Cessna 172 was able to sustain flight and landed at an airport located approximately 10 miles from the collision area. The Cessna 150 entered an uncontrolled descent and impacted the ground. Two witnesses reported sun glare from the west at the time of the accident. One pilot witness, who departed near the same time as the Cessna 150, and flew the same route as the Cessna 150, stated that the sun was "blinding from [his] 2:00 o'clock to 4:00 o'clock position." He added that the visibility to the south and east was 15 miles or greater and the sky was clear of clouds. Another pilot witness, who departed from the airport the Cessna 172 landed at about 10 minutes before the accident, and was traveling on a northwesterly heading, reported that he observed a "very strong sun glare" and it "seemed impossible to see within plus or minus 15 degrees from the sun's bearing." The witness added that a cold front had passed through the area the day before the accident, and the sky was clear of clouds and haze.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of both pilots to maintain visual lookout during cruise flight. A contributory factor was sun glare, which obscured the Cessna 150 pilot's visual lookout.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/26/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1710 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | KATY |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77449 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| 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 | Unknown |
| 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 | 1653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HOU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 64 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 41 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 276 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11137 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 26 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 4 2001 12:55PM |
| 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 | N6521D | N3588J |
| NTSB Number | FTW01FA025A | FTW01FA025B |
| 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? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N | 150E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172N | 150E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17272842 | 15061288 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 | 1600 |
| 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 | 4 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 13 2000 12:00AM | Nov 22 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 206 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3408 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KARL E. OPPERMANN | DONALD WESLEY LEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1734 NOGALUS DRIVE | 10101 HARWIN #260 |
| Aircraft Owner City | CROSBY | HOUSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77532 | 77036 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| 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? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SAT | CLL |
| Departure City | SAN ANTONIO | COLLEGE STATION |
| Departure State | TX | TX |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1600 | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3R1 | 5TA4 |
| Destination City | BAYTOWN | HOUSTON |
| Destination State | TX | TX |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2001 10:40AM | Oct 17 2001 10:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 3955 | -- |
| Runway Width | 75 | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |