Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Redbird Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Midland, Texas 79711
Thursday, March 3, 1988 14:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT RPRTD THAT WHILE HE WAS CRUISING AT 13,000 FT ON AN IFR FLT, THE ACFT WAS SKIMMING THE TOPS OF RAGGED CUMULUS BUILD-UPS. HE ESTIMATED THE ACFT WAS APRX 200 TO 300 FT BELOW THE TOP OF ONE SUCH CLOUD WHEN SEVERE TURBULENCE WAS ENCOUNTERED. DURING THE ENCOUNTER, A 1500 TO 2000 FT LOSS OF ALTITUDE OCCURRED & THE ACFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED. AFTER THE OCCURRENCE THE PLT NOTED THE 'GEAR UP' LIGHT WAS NOT ILLUMINATED, THE AIRSPEED INDICATOR WAS INOP, & SOME RIVETS WERE POPPED ON THE WINGS. AT THE DESTINATION, HE WAS UNABLE TO EXTEND THE LANDING GEAR WITH EITHER THE NORMAL OR EMERGENCY SYSTEMS. HE THEN DIVERTED TO REDBIRD ARPT & MADE A WHEELS-UP LANDING WHICH RESULTED IN MINIMAL ADDITIONAL DAMAGE. THE PRE-FLT WX BRIEFING CALLED FOR TURBULENCE ALONG THE ROUTE WITH OCCASIONAL LIGHT TO MODERATE ACTIVITY BELOW 8000 FT. THE PLT RPRTD HE EXPERIENCED SMOOTH CONDITIONS PRIOR TO THE ACDNT. AFTER THE ACFT WAS PLACED ON JACKS & THE LANDING GEAR MOTOR RELEASE HANDLE WAS 'JIGGLED,' THE NORMAL & EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION SYSTEMS OPERATED NORMALLY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
ENCOUNTER WITH SEVERE TURBULENCE WITHIN TOPS OF CONVECTIVE CLOUDS. LEADING TO THIS WAS THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO PROPERLY EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL DANGER OF THE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY, WHICH HE CHOSE TO PENETRATE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/3/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | MIDLAND |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79711 |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | REDBIRD |
| 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 | 0 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2288 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 3 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40171 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 11:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8496P |
| NTSB Number | FTW88LA076 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-400 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-400 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 26-76 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 3060 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HOUTAN, SEPAHPOUR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 22305 BAVENRICH |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALINAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 43908 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ELP |
| Departure City | EL PASO |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DAL |
| Destination City | DALLAS |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 5452 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |