Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kerrville, Texas 78029
Thursday, September 22, 1988 14:38 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE COMMERCIAL PLT WAS 6 MILES FROM HIS RANCH AND NOTED SMOKE IN THE COCKPIT, ACCOMPANIED BY A ROUGH RUNNING ENGINE. HE TURNED BACK TO THE RANCH FOR A FORCED LANDING. HE OVERFLEW THE LANDING AREA, DECIDED HE WAS TOO HIGH FOR LANDING AND TURNED FOR ANOTHER APPROACH. ENGINE PERFORMANCE WAS DETERIORATING, AND THE SECOND APPROACH WAS TOO LOW. THE PLT STALLED THE ACFT JUST PRIOR TO IMPACT WITH A TREE ON THE APPROACH PATH. THE ACFT CAME TO REST 20 YARDS SHORT OF THE LANDING STRIP. THE PLT SAW FLAMES FROM THE ENGINE AREA AND EXITED THE PLANE. HE ATTEMPTED TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE WITH DIRT, TO NO AVAIL. A POST ACCIDENT INSPECTION BY AN FAA INVESTIGATOR REVEALED EVIDENCE THAT THE EXHAUST MUFFLER HAD SPLIT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/22/1988
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1438
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City KERRVILLE
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 78029
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 9
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 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
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 5000
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) 12
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 4500
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
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 --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1435
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 22 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1530
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 37560
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:08PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3621K
NTSB Number DEN88LA210
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-140
Aircraft Serial Number 28-23657
Certified Max Gross Weight 2050
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 22
Airframe Hours 3200
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HUGO D. MCBEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2707 LAKEMIST
Aircraft Owner City SAN ANTONIO
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 78222
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 SSF
Departure City SAN ANTONIO
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code SSF
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
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 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --