Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Lancaster Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lancaster, Texas 75146
Saturday, November 14, 1987 6:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT RECEIVED A WEATHER REPORT INDICATING THAT IFR CONDITIONS PREVAILED. AFTER TAKEOFF THE AIRPLANE TRAVELED APPROXIMATELY 1/2 MILE BEFORE IT CRASHED. PILOT WAS NOT INSTRUMENT RATED AND HAD VERY LITTLE TOTAL TIME. HE DID HAVE THREE HOURS OF NIGHT TIME AND TWO HOURS OF SIMULATED INSTRUMENTS, BUT NO ACTUAL INSTRUMENT TRAINING. IMPACT MARKS INDICATE THAT THE ACFT CRASHED RT WING FIRST WITH THE NOSE DOWN ABOUT 45 DEGREES. THE WRECKAGE TRAVELED FOR A TOTAL OF 144 FT. THE FRONT OF THE ACFT WAS DEMOLISHED. THE RT WING HAS SEPARATED INTO SEVERAL PIECES. THE FUSELAGE WAS BROKEN OPEN ON THE RT SIDE. THE ENG & PROP WERE PUSHED UNDER THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. CONTINUITY WAS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE FLT CONTROLS AND CONTROL SURFACES. CONTINUITY WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE ENG. AN ENG TEARDOWN WAS NOT PERFORMED. ONE WITNESS SAW THE TAKEOFF BUT NO ONE SAW THE DESCENT OR CRASH BECAUSE OF LOW VISIBILITY. FOUR PERSONS REPORTED HEARING THE ACFT FLY OVER AT LOW ALT WITH REVVING ENG AND 3 OF THEM HEARD THE CRASH.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/14/1987 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 650 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | LANCASTER |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75146 |
| Event Date Year | 1987 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LANCASTER |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LNC |
| 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 | 500 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 608 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FTW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 710 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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) | 2571 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 14 1987 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 725 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 37188 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8980J |
| NTSB Number | FTW88FA028 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-3003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 3 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 130 |
| Airframe Hours | 1728 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J.B.A. CONSTRUCTION CO. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2692 GRAVEL |
| Aircraft Owner City | FORT WORTH |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76118 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JBA CONSTRUCTION CO. INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2693 GRAVEL ST. |
| Operator City | FORT WORTH |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 76118 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LNC |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 650 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 5F1 |
| Destination City | POST |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | 13 |
| Runway Length | 3700 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |