Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Creswell, North Carolina 27928
Sunday, April 15, 1990 14:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHILE CRUISING AT 700 FT ON A CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT, THE AIRSHIP HAD A COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER IN BOTH ENGINES. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRSHIP COLLIDED WITH TREES & THE TERRAIN DURING A FORCED LANDING IN 20 KT WINDS. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE AIRSHIP HAD TRAVERSED THE BEAM OF A HIGHLY DIRECTIONAL RADIO FREQUENCY BROADCAST FROM A VOICE OF AMERICA ANTENNA. THE SIGNAL RADIATING FROM THE ANTENNA HAD BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO DAMAGE ELECTRONIC IGNITION CONTROL UNITS OF THE SAME TYPE USED ON THE AIRSHIP ENGINES. SUBSEQUENT TESTS OF THE FAILED IGNITION UNITS SHOWED THAT THE FAILURE MODE IN THIS ACCIDENT REPLICATED THE FAILURES OF THE PREVIOUSLY TESTED IGNITION UNITS. AT THE TIME OF CERTIFICATION, AIRSHIP REQUIREMENTS FOR HIRF (HIGH INTNESITY RADIATED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS) TESTING HAD NOT BEEN ISSUED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE FAILURE OF THE ELECTRONIC IGNITION UNITS AS THE AIRSHIP TRAVERSED THE DIRECTIONAL ANTENNA BEAM OF A HIGH INTENSITY RADIATED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD (HIRF). FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE UNFAVORABLE WIND AND THE LACK OF HIRF CERTIFICATION STANDARDS FOR AIRSHIPS AT THE TIME OF FAA CERTIFICATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/15/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | CRESWELL |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27928 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2185 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 15 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 45109 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N602SK |
| NTSB Number | ATL90FA099 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AIRSHIP INDUSTRIES |
| Aircraft Model | AIRSHIP 600 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AIRSHIP 60 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1215/07 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 15655 |
| Aircraft Category | Blimp |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 12 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 2348 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ORIX COMMERCIAL CREDIT, CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 600 WILSHIRE BLVD SUITE 1460 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOS ANGELES |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90017 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AIRSHIP INDUSTRIES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | RT 4, BOX 109 |
| Operator City | ELIZABETH CITY |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 27909 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ECG |
| Departure City | ELIZABETH CITY |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FLO |
| Destination City | FLORENCE |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |