Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Sebastian Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sebastian, Florida 32958
Saturday, February 3, 1990 10:47 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A MIDAIR COLLISION OCCURRED BETWEEN A PIPER PA-28, N473FT, & AN AMERICAN AA-1A, N9486L, AS THE 2 ACFT WERE ON FINAL APCH TO LAND ON RWY 13 AT AN UNCTLD ARPT. BOTH ACFT THEN CRASHED TO THE GROUND. THE PLT OF THE AA-1A SURVIVED THE ACDNT, BUT DUE TO INJURIES, HE COULD NOT RECALL DETAILS OF THE OCCURRENCE. THE AA-1A WAS INITIALLY IN LEFT TRAFFIC BEHIND THE PA-28. A CFI (IN TRAFFIC AHEAD OF BOTH ACFT) HEARD THE PA-28 PLT RPRT ON A 1-3/4 MI FINAL APCH. HE THEN HEARD THE AA-1A PLT RPRT ON BASE LEG. THEREAFTER, THE CFI HEARD THE AA-1A PLT RPRT TURNING ON A SHORT FINAL APCH & BECAME AWARE OF A POTENTIAL TRAFFIC CONFLICT. THE CFI THEN SAW THE AA-1A IN A LEFT TURN ON THE RGT SIDE OF THE FINAL APCH PATH, AS IF THE PLT HAD OVERSHOT THE TURN TO FINAL. ALSO, HE SAW THE PA-28 ON FINAL APCH. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE 2 ACFT CONVERGED & COLLIDED. DURING IMPACT, THE PROP & NOSEWHEEL OF THE AA-1A HIT THE EMPENNAGE OF THE PA-28.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE AA-1A PILOT TO SEE-AND-AVOID THE PIPER PA-28 WHICH HAD ENTERED TRAFFIC FIRST. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: FAILURE OF THE PA-28 PILOT TO SEE THE AMERICAN AA-1A, WHEN THE AA-1A WAS ON A BASE LEG AND THE PA-28 WAS FURTHER OUT ON FINAL APPROACH.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/3/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1047 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | SEBASTIAN |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32958 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SEBASTIAN MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X26 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 23 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1550 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VBR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 25 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 895 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 3 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42067 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 4:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N473FT | N9486L |
| NTSB Number | MIA90FA067A | MIA90FA067B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER | AMERICAN |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 | AA-1A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-161 | AA-1A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8216222 | AA-1A-0286 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 | 1465 |
| 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 | Dec 21 1989 12:00AM | Mar 2 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 86 | 94 |
| Airframe Hours | 4986 | 1704 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECH. | COOPER, ROGER L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 150 WEST UNIVERSITY BLVD | 336 LIVE OAK DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | MELBOURNE | ORCHID ISLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32901 | 32963 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | FL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | COOPER, ROGER L. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | 150 WEST UNIVERSITY BLVD | 336 LIVE OAK DRIVE |
| Operator City | MELBOURNE | ORCHID ISLE |
| Operator State | FL | FL |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 32901 | 32963 |
| 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) | Instructional | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PBI | X26 |
| Departure City | PALM BEACH | |
| Departure State | FL | |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1009 | 940 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | X-59 | X26 |
| Destination City | VALKARIA | |
| Destination State | FL | |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 | 13 |
| Runway Length | 4000 | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |