Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gadsen Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gadsden, Alabama 35901
Sunday, November 5, 1989 11:38 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A BEECH C90 (N3804F) & A CESSNA 172 (N52244) COLLIDED AT AN ALT OF ABOUT 200 TO 300 FT AGL AS THE 2 ACFT WERE TAKING OFF ON INTERSECTING RWYS AT AN UNCONTROLLED ARPT. THE BEECH PLTS WERE DEPARTING FROM RWY 6 WITH AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN, WHILE THE CESSNA PLTS WERE IN THE PATTERN ON AN INSTRUCTIONAL FLT, PERFORMING A TOUCH & GO. TWO ATP PILOTS WERE IN THE BEECH; AN INSTRUCTOR PLT (CFI) & A LOW-TIME STUDENT WERE IN THE CESSNA. BASED ON WITNESS INFORMATION, THE CESSNA CREW MADE AT LEAST 1 RADIO CALL ON UNICOM WHILE IN THE PATTERN BEFORE LNDG, AND ANOTHER CALL WHILE TAKING OFF. THE BEECH CREW REPORTEDLY MADE A RADIO CALL AS THE TAKEOFF ROLL WAS BEGUN. NEITHER FLT CREW APPEARED TO TAKE ANY EVASIVE ACTION UNTIL JUST BEFORE IMPACT. THE BEECH PLTS HAD RECEIVED A FLT PLAN CLEARANCE ON ANOTHER FREQ SHORTLY BEFORE TAKING OFF.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOTS OF BOTH AIRCRAFT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT TO SEE-AND-AVOID THE OTHER AIRCRAFT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/5/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1138 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | GADSDEN |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35901 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GADSEN MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GAD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 569 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1140 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 154 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ANB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 611 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1997 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 5 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41193 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3804F | N52244 |
| NTSB Number | ATL90FA024A | ATL90FA024B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | C90 | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C90 | 172P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LJ-947 | 17274454 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9650 | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 7 1989 12:00AM | Oct 12 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 70 | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 3449 | 4100 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NEVADA FLYCO, INC. | EAGLE AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5430 LAUBY RD, BLDG. 13 | 196 IRA GRAY RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CANTON | GADSDEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44720 | 35901 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | GULF STATES STEEL, INC. | AVIATION SERVICES OF GADSDEN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 174 S. 26TH STREET | |
| Operator City | GADSDEN | |
| Operator State | AL | |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 35901 | |
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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) | Business | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ||
| Departure City | ||
| Departure State | ||
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1138 | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GSP | |
| Destination City | GREER | |
| Destination State | SC | |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 6 | 18 |
| Runway Length | 6803 | 4803 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |