Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Houston Southwest Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Arcola, Texas 77583
Friday, November 21, 1986 20:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT DEPARTED ARCOLA, TX, VFR, ON RWY 10, MADE A 180 DEGREE LEFT CLIMBING TURN AND ENTERED CLOUDS AT ABOUT THE BOUNDARY LINE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE ARPT. THE RADAR OPERATOR STATED THE ACFT CONTINUED WESTBOUND ONE TO TWO MILES BEYOND THE ARPT THEN ENTERED AN ABRUPT LEFT DESCENDING TURN AND DISAPPEARED FROM RADAR. THE ACFT DESCENDED FROM THE LOW CLOUDS INTO A SMALL CLEARING AT HIGH RATE OF SPEED. IT CLIPPED THE TOP FROM TWO SMALL TREES IN THE CLEARING AND ATTEMPTED TO CLIMB. LIGHT GROUND CONTACT WAS MADE AND THEN THE ACFT IMPACTED AND SEPARATED A LARGE DEAD TREE IMMEDIATELY ABOVE GROUND LEVEL. IT THEN CLIMBED TO AN ALTITUDE OF 20-25 FT AND COLLIDED WITH OTHER LARGE TREES. IT CONTINUED TRAVEL ABOUT 100 FT INTO A HEAVILY WOODED AREA AND CAME TO REST IN A NEAR VERTICAL NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/21/1986 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2045 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | ARCOLA |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77583 |
| Event Date Year | 1986 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HOUSTON SOUTHWEST |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AXH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 260 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2051 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HOU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 800 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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 | 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1633 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 22 1986 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 32060 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9347M |
| NTSB Number | FTW87FA021 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1279 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 25 1986 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 2015 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RAYMOND E. & ALTON J. BURCH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT. 6 BOX 695G |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALVIN |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77511 |
| 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 | AXH |
| Departure City | ARCOLA |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2035 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CFD |
| Destination City | BRYAN |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:36AM |
| 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 | -- |