Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Wittman Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903
Thursday, July 29, 1999 15:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The three airplanes were part of a formation demonstration flight of eight World War II Navy fighters, divided into four sections of two airplanes each, that had been cleared to takeoff from runway 18 at Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, during the annual Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) convention, 'AirVenture 99'. Air traffic control clearance for the departing aircraft had been relinquished from the FAA tower to a local 'air boss'. The air boss had cleared all of the airplanes to takeoff as a flight. Witnesses saw the lead airplane, a Bearcat, N14HP, and his wingman, taxi down runway 18 approximately 1,400 feet, turn toward the southwest and stop. Approximately 4 seconds later, the lead airplane in the second section, a Corsair, N712RD, collided into N14HP severing the Corsair's left wing, and the Bearcat's right wing. The Corsair continued down the runway, rolling over on it's left side, came apart, and burst into flames. The remains of the Corsair came to rest in a field east of the runway, approximately 2,000 feet down. The Bearcat was turned approximately 180 degrees and came to rest on the runway's east edge. A second Corsair, the wingman of N712RD, veered off of the west side of runway 18, sustaining substantial damage to it's left wing. Examination of all three airplanes revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot not following the instructions briefed by the formation leader, and the pilot not maintaining clearance from the formation lead airplane. A factor relating to this accident was the area of restricted visibility in front of the pilot when the airplane sits on its tailwheel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/29/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | OSHKOSH |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54903 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | WITTMAN REGIONAL AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OSH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 808 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1500 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OSH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 808 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3120 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 743 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 29 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1501 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 13 2003 4:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
Aircraft #3 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N712RD | N14HP | N179PT |
| NTSB Number | CHI99FA266A | CHI99FA266B | CHI99FA266C |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Chance Vought | Grumman | Chance Vought |
| Aircraft Model | F4U-4 | F8F-1 | F4U-5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | F4U-4 | F8F-1 | F4U-5 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 97280 | 90446 | 122179 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 13300 | 8803 | 13297 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 12 1998 12:00AM | Aug 20 1998 12:00AM | May 25 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 | 53 | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 2346 | 2200 | 1356 |
| ELT Installed | No | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAVANAUGH FLIGHT MUSEUM INC. | BRECKENRIDGE AVIATION MUSEUM | JRMC INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4572 CLAIRE CHENNAULT | P. O. BOX 388 | P. O. BOX 1298 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ADDISON | BRECKENRIDGE | DOVER |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | TX | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75001 | 76034 | 19903 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | JAMES M. READ | ||
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes | No |
| Operator Street Address | 218 RIVERSIDE DRIVE | ||
| Operator City | CHESTERTON | ||
| Operator State | IN | ||
| Operator Country | |||
| Operator Zip code | 46304 | ||
| Operator Code | |||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OSH | OSH | OSH |
| Departure City | |||
| Departure State | |||
| Departure Country | |||
| Departure Time | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT | CDT | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | 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 | Takeoff | Standing | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 13 2003 4:11PM | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Runway Length | 8002 | 8002 | 8002 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- | -- |