Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Leesburg Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leesburg, Florida 34788
Friday, February 9, 2001 9:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Leesburg Municipal Airport has no operating control tower. The Decathlon conducted a long straight-in approach to Leesburg's runway 13 while the Extra 300 was conducting practice landings from a left traffic pattern. A ground collision occurred between the Decathlon's empennage, and the Extra's propeller/spinner and wing leading edge as the Decathlon was in its decelerating ground roll and the Extra was in the latter stage of its landing flare. The forces imparted to the Decathlon caused it to become airborne, nose high, and execute a roll about its longitudinal axis. The aircraft came to rest on the runway, inverted. The Extra under ran the Decathlon, commenced a skid, and sheared its right wheel/brake assembly. Both aircraft were substantially damaged, and the Decathlon pilot received minor injuries. Numerous witnesses stated they heard no radio calls on the proper UNICOM/CTAF frequency from either aircraft. The UNICOM/CTAF frequency had been changed from 122.7 to 122.725, and was properly displayed in the Southeast Airport/Facility Directory, (A/FD) effective November 30, 2000. The Aeronautical Information Manual, Chapter 4, " Air Traffic Control", recommends for traffic operations at airports without an operating control tower, (1) Enter pattern in level flight, abeam the midpoint of the runway, at pattern altitude. (1,000' agl is recommended pattern altitude unless established otherwise...), (2) Maintain pattern altitude until abeam approach end of the landing runway on downwind leg, (3) Complete turn to final at least 1/4 mile from the runway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot of N123WA and the failure of both pilots of N301NL to adequately insure visual separation between their aircraft and other aircraft in the landing pattern, resulting in a runway collision. Factors contributing to the accident were the pilots of both aircraft not using the correct UNICOM/CTAF frequency, and the pilot of N123WA executing a landing approach that conflicted with the traffic pattern entry recommended by the Aeronautical Information Manual for airports without operating control towers.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/9/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 915 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Leesburg |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34788 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 284937N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814855W |
| Event Location Airport | Leesburg Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LEE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 77 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 77 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11270 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm CTR-SE |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 9 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2002 7:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N123WA | N301NL |
| NTSB Number | MIA01FA074A | MIA01FA074B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | American | Flugzeugbau |
| Aircraft Model | 8KCAB | EA-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 726-94 | 067 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 | 2095 |
| 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 | 2 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 29 2000 12:00AM | Feb 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33.8 | 8.62 |
| Airframe Hours | 123 | 416.95 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Blaine M. Hoffman | Donair Sales and Leasing, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7168 S.E.94th Lane | 5275 S. Atlantic Ave. Apt 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ocala | New Smyrna |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34472 | 32169 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | -- | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | -- | -- |
| Operator State | -- | -- |
| Operator Country | -- | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- | -- |
| 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OCF | SFB |
| Departure City | Ocala | Sanford |
| Departure State | FL | FL |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LEE | LEE |
| Destination City | Leesburg | Leesburg |
| Destination State | FL | FL |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 10:08AM | Sep 28 2001 10:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PREJ | PREJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 | 13 |
| Runway Length | 5000 | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |