Destin-Ft. Walton Beach Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Destin, Florida 32540
Tuesady, April 17, 2001 9:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor stated that during the approach to land, just prior to touchdown with the main landing gear, he encountered wind gusts. He said as the tail of the aircraft began to settle, he encountered a gust from the right front quarter, and the aircraft weather vaned to the right. He said that he applied corrective control input but insufficient control authority was available to arrest the excursion, and the aircraft exited the runway to the right, into loose sand, resulting in substantial damage to the aircraft. He further stated that prior to the accident there had been no malfunction or failure to the aircraft, or any of its systems.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the flight instructor to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the landing rollout while landing with a crosswind in gusty conditions, which resulted in a ground swerve, and the aircraft exiting the runway and incurring substantial damage when it became stuck in sand.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/17/2001
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 945
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Destin
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32540
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Destin-Ft. Walton Beach
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DTS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 22
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DTS
Elevation of weather observation facility 22
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 20
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
Density Altitude (feet) 125
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10310
NTSB Notification Source the pilot of the aircraft
NTSB Notification Date Apr 17 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1610
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 30 2001 11:11AM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Birmingham

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1364N
NTSB Number MIA01LA124
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name North American
Aircraft Model AT-6D
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 53418
Certified Max Gross Weight 5300
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Mar 16 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 64
Airframe Hours 11583
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name T-6 Warbirds Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1013 Center Road
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19899
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name North American-Top Gun Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 270 Estrella Avenue H-4
Operator City St. Augustine
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32095
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate 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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code DTS
Departure City Destin
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 915
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record May 22 2001 2:25PM
User who most recently changed record PREJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length 4999
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --