Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
La Crosse Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Crosse, Wisconsin 54603
Saturday, June 16, 2001 9:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed on impact with terrain and post impact fire following an in-flight break up while maneuvering in the traffic pattern. The pilot and rear seat passenger were fatally injured. The accident airplane was cleared for a low approach. A record of interview with the Air Traffic Control Tower Chief stated "that when the aircraft was in front of the tower he first noticed a short vapor trail coming from the left wing tip and shortly thereafter the wing tip tank separated." A witness stated, "At approximately midway down the runway the aircraft began a 5 to 10 degrees climb at which point I observed the left wing tip fuel tank and what appeared to be a small section of the wing separate from the aircraft and smash through the tail section, which also became separated." Flight control push-pull link-rods were traced and continuity was established from the cockpits to the flight controls surfaces. The left wing was separated from the fuselage. Sections of the v-tail were found on runway 21. Both tip tanks were found in the grass area after the end of runway 21 and they were separated from their wings. The NTSB Materials Laboratory report stated, "Both of the [tip tank rear] studs were fractured flush with the exterior surfaces of the tip tanks. Examination of the fractures through the studs revealed similar features on the fractures from both tip tanks. ... Both fractures contained two diametrically opposite regions that were lighter in color and contained crack arrest positions, typical of reverse bending fatigue. On both studs fatigue initiation was from multiple initiation sites within a thread root. ... The fatigue cracking on the studs propagated through roughly 50 percent of the stud cross section before final fracture."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue failure of the aircraft's left wing tip fuel tank rear attachment, while the aircraft was being maneuvered in a low approach, leading to the tank's in-flight separation and subsequent in-flight break up of the airplane and the aircraft's control not possible.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | La Crosse |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54603 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 435244N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0911524W |
| Event Location Airport | LA CROSSE MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LSE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 654 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LSE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 654 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KLSE 161353Z 20006KT 10SM CLR 19/13 A3005 RMK AO2 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 13462 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 16 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1120 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2003 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Milwaukee, WI, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N301FM |
| NTSB Number | CHI01FA180 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Potez-Air Fouga |
| Aircraft Model | CM 170 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 240 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7441 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8691 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Roger S. Simpson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19956 Caldwell Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Northville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48167 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LSE |
| Departure City | LA CROSSE |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 938 |
| 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? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 11 2003 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 5299 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |