H & F Ranchstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Crystal City, Texas 78839
Friday, July 24, 1987 17:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT LANDED DOWNWIND ON HIS PRIVATE STRIP. THE EXACT AMOUNT OF THE TAILWIND COULD NOT BE DETERMINED. A THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED JUST TO THE EAST OF THE RUNWAY AND COULD HAVE READILY GIVEN N448 A STRONG TAILWIND. THE AIRCRAFT TOUCHED DOWN 390 FEET BEYOND THE THRESHOLD. LIGHT BRAKING ACTION WAS EVIDENT FROM THAT POINT UP TO A POINT 400 FEET FROM A HANGAR WHERE ALL TIRE MARKS DISAPPEARED. THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH THE HANGAR, WHICH WAS BUILT AT THE END OF AND ACROSS THE RUNWAY, APPROXIMATELY 10 FEET ABOVE THE RUNWAY SURFACE AND WAS DESTROYED BY THE SUBSEQUENT POST CRASH FIRE.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/24/1987
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CRYSTAL CITY
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 78839
Event Date Year 1987
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport H & F RANCHSTRIP
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 8R4
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 640
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1649 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 120
Weather Observation Facility ID COT
Elevation of weather observation facility 471
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 40
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 12000
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) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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 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 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2195
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 24 1987 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1807
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 35756
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 2:36PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N448
NTSB Number FTW87FA174
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 CESSNA
Aircraft Model 421C
Aircraft Series Identifier 421C
Aircraft Serial Number 421C1034
Certified Max Gross Weight 6800
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 16 1987 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 95
Airframe Hours 1375
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HAYDEN W. HEAD
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1020 BANK AND TOWER TRUST
Aircraft Owner City CORPUS CHRISTI
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 78477
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
Departure City BEAUMONT
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 8R4
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 25
Runway Length 3000
Runway Width 30
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --