Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Georgetown Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Georgetown, Texas 78626
Saturday, May 4, 2002 14:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane encountered wake turbulence during the takeoff/initial climb of the formation flight of 4 airplanes at an air show. The 2 lead airplanes had engines rated at 450 horsepower. The accident airplane engine was rated at 220 horsepower. According to the pilot, following the wake turbulence, the airplane had "reduced" power and did not maintain altitude. The airplane descended, struck power lines, trees, and a residence before coming to rest nose low on the ground. Examination revealed that compression on two of the engine cylinders was below recommended specifications, and one magneto was timed approximately 2 1/2 degrees retarded. According to the FAA inspector, the propeller diameter was longer than the maximum allowable per the Type Certification Data Sheet (TCDS), and the reported take-off and climb rpm of 1700-1800 was lower than the TCDS specification of 2,075 rpm at 220 horsepower. According to the propeller manufacturer's representative, there were "no indications of any type of propeller failure prior to impact."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate planning/decision resulting in the wake turbulence encounter during the takeoff/initial climb of the formation flight. A contributing factor was the partial loss of engine power for an undetermined reason.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/4/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Georgetown |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78626 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 304044N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0974046W |
| Event Location Airport | Georgetown Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GTU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 789 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1325 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GTU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 790 |
| 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 | 3200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13340 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 4 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2003 12:26PM |
| 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 | N5805V |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA139 |
| 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 | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | A75SN1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-2351 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2717 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 13 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1152.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donald L. Ellis |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1 Salado Commons Box 478 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salado |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76571 |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GTU |
| Departure City | Georgetown |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BMQ |
| Destination City | Burnett |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2003 6:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |