East Texas Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
Sunday, September 18, 1983 19:55 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AFTER TRANSPORTING PASSENGERS FROM LONGVIEW, TX TO OKLAHOMA CITY, OK & RETURN TO LONGVIEW, THE ACFT WAS REFUELED FOR A FLT BACK TO NACOGDOCHES, TX, WHERE THE ACFT WAS BASED. ABOUT 12 MIN AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PLT WAS CLEARED FOR AN NDB APCH TO NACOGDOCHES & INSTRUCTED TO CONTACT THE LUFKIN FSS FOR WX & CURRENT ALTIMETER SETTING. DURING THE NDB APCH, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES, CRASHED & BURNED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF EITHER AN ENG OR AIRFRAME FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. INITIAL IMPACT OCCURRED WITH TREES ABOUT 700 YDS EAST OF THE NDB SITE. INITIALLY, TREES WERE CUT IN AN UPSLOPING MANNER WHERE THE TERRAIN SLOPED UPWARDS. ELEVATION OF THE CRASH SITE WAS 530 FT MSL. THE MIN DESCENT ALT (MDA) WAS 900 FT MSL. ABOUT 28 MI NORTH, THE 1955 CDT WX AT LUFKIN WAS, IN PART: 3500 FT BROKEN, VISIBILITY 5 MI. HOWEVER, WITNESSES AT NACOGDOCHES REPORTED CONSIDERABLY LOWER CEILINGS, REDUCED VISIBILITY & SOME HILLTOPS OBSCURED BY CLOUDS. A PLT WITNESS REPORTED LIGHT RAIN, FOG IN THE TREETOPS. REPORTEDLY, THE ARPT WAS BELOW MINS

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/18/1983
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1955
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City NACOGDOCHES
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75961
Event Date Year 1983
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport EAST TEXAS REGIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OCH
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 3
Degrees magnetic from airport 331
Airport Elevation 372
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1955 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 351
Weather Observation Facility ID LFK
Elevation of weather observation facility 290
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 28
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 3171
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 23490
Date of most recent change to record Dec 18 2002 11:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\GIUV
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N111QL
NTSB Number FTW83FA431
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion Ground
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Rockwell
Aircraft Model 690A
Aircraft Series Identifier 690A
Aircraft Serial Number 11312
Certified Max Gross Weight 10250
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 8
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 29 1983 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 3077
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SAM W. RANKIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address RT. 2, BOX 2470
Aircraft Owner City LONGVIEW
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
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 Yes - certificate holder
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code GGG
Departure City LONGVIEW
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1932
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 15
Runway Length 3600
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --