Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mcneely Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Earle, Arkansas 72331
Saturday, June 17, 1989 9:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT WAS PRACTICING HIS ROUTINE FOR AN AIR SHOW THAT WAS TO OCCUR LATER THE SAME DAY. ONE WITNESS RPRTD THE ACFT APCHD THE ARPT FROM THE WEST 'LOW & SLOW' AS IF TO LAND, THEN IT WAS MANEUVERED TO AN INVERTED ATTITUDE OVER RWY 8 AT 50 TO 100 FT AGL. AFTER REMAINING INVERTED FOR A SHORT TIME, THE ACFT WAS ROLLED BACK TO AN UPRIGHT ATTITUDE. HOWEVER, AS THE ACFT ROLLED UPRIGHT, IT ANGLED TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE RWY, DESCENDED & CRASHED ON A HDG OF 140 DEG. THE WITNESS SAID THE ACFT SEEMED TO 'SLIP' SIDEWAY AS IT ROLLED TO THE UPRIGHT PSN BEFORE CRASHING. AFTER IMPACT, A FIRE ERUPTED & THE ACFT WAS DESTROYED. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT WAS FOUND. THE PLT WAS A FORMER ASTRONAUT THAT WAS EMPLOYED BY NASA. HE HAD VISITED WITH A PROMINANT AT-6 PLT & HAD EXPRESSED SPECIAL INTEREST IN THE AT-6 PLT'S ROUTINE INVOLVING INVERTED FLT. THE AT-6 PLT HAD PROVIDED INFO, BUT ADZD THE ASTRONAUT AGAINST PERFORMING ROLLS IN THE AT-6 AT LOW ALT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION AND OVER CONFIDENCE IN HIS FLYING ABILITY, WHICH RESULTED IN A LOSS OF CONTROL, WHILE MANEUVERING AT LOW ALTITUDE. THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE ALTITUDE AND AIRPEED WERE CONSIDERED TO BE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/17/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | EARLE |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72331 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MCNEELY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | M63 |
| 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 | 212 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 850 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MEM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 332 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1040 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1099 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 17 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1145 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39376 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3931S |
| NTSB Number | MKC89FA136 |
| 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 | NORTH AMERICAN |
| Aircraft Model | AT-6D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AT-6D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51811 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5340 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 6 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 101 |
| Airframe Hours | 7611 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GREG MCNEELY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 149 SOUTH |
| Aircraft Owner City | EARLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72331 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 8 |
| Runway Length | 2200 |
| Runway Width | 30 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |