San Antonio Horizon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Antonio, Texas 78219
Thursday, October 26, 1989 15:50 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

WHEN THE PILOT TOOK OFF, THERE WERE NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS & RAINSHOWERS IN THE AREA. TOWERING CUMULUS CLOUDS WERE REPORTED IN ALL QUADRANTS & THE WIND WAS REPORTED TO BE GUSTING TO 25 KTS. AFTER DEPARTING FROM RUNWAY 16, THE PILOT MADE RIGHT TURNS TO THE NORTH & BEGAN A CLIMB. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE ACFT WAS CLIMBING IN A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE WHEN IT ENTERED A DESCENT & CRASHED. IMPACT OCCURRED JUST WEST OF THE ARPT. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED, WHICH RESULTED IN A STALL. THE UNFAVORABLE/GUSTY WIND CONDITION WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/26/1989
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1550
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City SAN ANTONIO
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 78219
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SAN ANTONIO HORIZON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 74R
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 260
Airport Elevation 350
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1450 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID SAT
Elevation of weather observation facility 809
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1512
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 26 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1620
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 39856
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 1:08PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N77707
NTSB Number FTW90DRG01
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Funk, D.D. Aviation Co.
Aircraft Model B85C
Aircraft Series Identifier B85C
Aircraft Serial Number 337
Certified Max Gross Weight 1350
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 20 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 24
Airframe Hours 1515
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JAMES L. GEORGE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 11910 BRIAR PATH
Aircraft Owner City SAN ANTONIO
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 78214
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 74R
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1600
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 --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --