Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

King George, Virginia 22485
Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot occasionally flew over his friend's residence. On the day of the accident, the friend observed the airplane over his residence, and waved his arms. The pilot waggled the airplane's wings and made one low pass over the residence. During the second circuit, the airplane quickly banked left and rolled out on a southerly heading. It began to lose altitude, and the engine revved to full power, but the airplane continued to lose altitude. The airplane then pitched up about 10 degrees, cleared the friend's house by 25-30 feet, but struck a tree at 50-60 mph. The friend reported that the airplane had a 5-15 mph tailwind at the time of the accident. There was a strong smell of fuel at the accident site and no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions were observed.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper in-flight decision to perform low passes; and his failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in a stall and collision with trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/19/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1020
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City King George
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 22485
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 381508N
Event Location Longitude 0770531W
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 1025 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID EZF
Elevation of weather observation facility 85
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12862
NTSB Notification Source EROC
NTSB Notification Date May 19 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1120
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 15 2003 4:03PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Richmond, VA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2351Z
NTSB Number NYC02FA098
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 Beech
Aircraft Model 23
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number M-66
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 11 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 3135
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Benjamin C Butler
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Fredericksburg
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 22408
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code EZF
Departure City Fredericksburg
Departure State VA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code EZF
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 3 2002 11:02AM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --