Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Macon, Missouri 63552
Thursday, January 5, 1989 12:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT HAD JUST PURCHASED THE ACFT & WAS FERRYING IT FROM ALLEGAN, MI, TO HIS HOME ARPT AT KANSAS CITY, MO. AN EN ROUTESTOP WAS MADE AT PEORIA, IL, WHERE HE REFUELED & CHECKED THE WX. AT PEORIA, FBO PSNL NOTED HE HAD FUEL ON THE SEAT OF HIS PANTS. HE SAID FUEL HAD GOTTEN ON HIS SEAT CUSHION FROM A LEAK AT THE TOP OF A FUEL SIGHT GAUGE (NEAR THE AFT SEAT).HE HAD THE ACFT REFUELED IN A LVL ATTITUDE (RATHER THAN THE USUAL NOSE LOW ATTITUDE) TO KEEP FUEL FROM LEAKING FROM THE GAUGE. BFR DEPG ON THE 2ND LEG OF THE FLT, THE PLT COMMENTED HE WOULD LIKE TO BEAT THE WX TO HIS HOME. DRG FLT, THE ACFTHIT A TREE, WHILE ON A NNW HDG NR MACON, MO, THEN CRASHED & BURNED. IT WAS FND ON 5/5/89. INV REVEALED THERE WAS A LOW CEILING IN THE AREA. APRX 24 MI NORTH AT KIRKSVILLE, MO, THE WX WAS IN PART: 500' OVC, 2 MI VIS WITH LIGHT RAIN & FOG. EXCEPT FOR THE RPRTD FUEL LEAK, NO EVIDENCE WAS FND OF A MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. BEFORE THE PLT LEFT ALLEGAN,HE HAD NO PREVIOUS FLT TIME IN THIS MAKE & MODEL OF ACFT & HAD NOT LOGGED ANY FLT TIME SINCE 8/10/88.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
CONTINUED FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT ALTITUDE/CLEARANCE ABOVE OBSTACLES. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: LOW CEILING, FOG, RAIN, PILOT DELAYING FLIGHT TO AN ALTERNATE DESTINATION, HIS LACK OF RECENT FLIGHT EXPERIENCE, HIS LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE TYPE OF AIRCRAFT, AND TREES.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/5/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | MACON |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63552 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1745 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 355 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IRK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 996 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 830 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 5 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1505 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40342 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N66WR |
| NTSB Number | MKC89DCG02 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WELLS |
| Aircraft Model | VARIEZE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | VARIEZE |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 328 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 28 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 35 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HAROLD J. WELLS/FLOYD G. ROCK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1027 W. ALLEGAN ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | MARTIN |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49070 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WILSON, DUANE A. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 14917 W. 90TH TERRACE |
| Operator City | LENEXA |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 66215 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PIA |
| Departure City | PEORIA |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MKC |
| Destination City | KANSAS CITY |
| Destination State | MO |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |