Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fentress, Texas 78622
Sunday, May 27, 2001 11:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A de Havilland DHC-6 and a Beech King Air 90 were to make a formation air drop of skydivers from 14,000 feet msl. The de Havilland was to be the lead aircraft with the King Air in trail. As the skydivers prepared to exit, the King Air was traveling faster than the de Havilland, and the pilot of the King Air had to pitch up and bank right to avoid the de Havilland. At that time, the pilot of the King Air lost sight of the de Havilland. A video tape taken by one of the skydivers showed that at the time the skydivers exited, the King Air was above, right, and ahead of the de Havilland. One of the King Air skydivers contacted the right propeller of the de Havilland. Other skydivers then saw this skydiver spinning out of control. One of these skydivers caught the injured skydiver and pulled the reserve handle; however, the reserve parachute did not fully inflate "due to being cut by the propeller." The injured skydiver fell to the ground. Both airplanes landed without further incident. The operator reported that this was the first formation air drop flight for either pilot in a multi-engine aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the King Air pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision in that he failed to remain in the agreed on formation position, resulting in one of his skydiver's contacting the propeller of the de Havilland airplane. A contributing factor was the lack of total experience of both pilots in multiengine formation air drop flights.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/27/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1120 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fentress |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78622 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1115 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HYI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 597 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 1 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 22 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11486 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 27 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2002 10:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N125PM |
| NTSB Number | FTW01LA132 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-6 Twin Otter |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 89 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Joseph M. Fugere |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 68 Pine Hill Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Nashua |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03063 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Phillip Chappell |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P. O. Box 306 |
| Operator City | Fentress |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78622 |
| 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) | Skydiving |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | XS90 |
| Departure City | Fentress |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2014 12:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |