Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lakeland, Florida 33811
Friday, April 5, 2002 15:05 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The RV6A and PA-16 pilots were in the traffic pattern for landing to runway 27 right. The controller called the base leg for the RV6A pilot and the pilot was slow to respond to the controller's instructions. The controller called the base leg for the PA-16 pilot. The controller subsequently observed the PA-16 pilot overtaking the RV6A pilot on final and instructed the RV6A pilot to side step to runway 27 left. The RV6A pilot did not respond to the controller's instructions. The controller instructed the PA-16 pilot to keep it up higher, but the PA-16 pilot did not respond to the controller's instructions. The controller observed the nose of the RV6A pitch up violently and both airplanes collided with the ground. Examination of both airplanes revealed the PA-16 left main landing gear collided with the upper surface of the RV6A empennage behind the cabin area and the PA-16 propeller collided with the RV6A cockpit area.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of PA-16 pilot to maintain a visual lookout and to yield the right-of-way to a lower airplane while on final approach resulting in a midair collision. Contributing to the accident was the failure of both pilot's to adhere to an ATC clearance while landing, and the subsequent in-flight collision of both airplanes with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/5/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Lakeland |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33811 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 275933N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820111W |
| Event Location Airport | Lakeland-Linder Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LAL |
| 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 | 142 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 142 |
| 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 | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1370 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13739 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Lakeland Police Department |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 5 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1505 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5293H | N3333S |
| NTSB Number | ATL02FA074A | ATL02FA074B |
| 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 | Piper | Betts |
| Aircraft Model | PA-16 | RV6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 16-97 | 20166 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 | 1724 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 4 2001 12:00AM | Nov 5 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 142 | 32 |
| Airframe Hours | 3134 | 343 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stephan L. Pierce | Jerry D. Morrison |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 196 Hwy 380 E | 3708 Capistrano |
| Aircraft Owner City | Graham | Austin |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76450 | 78739 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 40J | CST |
| Departure City | Perry | Cross City |
| Departure State | FL | FL |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAL | LAL |
| Destination City | Lakeland | Lakeland |
| Destination State | FL | FL |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 12 2003 3:04PM | Jun 12 2003 3:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27R | 27R |
| Runway Length | 8500 | 8500 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |