Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Zephyrhills Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Zephyrhills, Florida 39450
Sunday, September 1, 2002 6:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses near the accident site reported they heard an airplane flying low over the neighborhood prior to the approximate time of the accident. Shortly after hearing the low flying airplane, an explosion was heard. Witnesses discovered a nearby home engulfed in flames, and confirmed that a small airplane had collided with the home. Witnesses reported the weather conditions were foggy and very dark at the time of the accident. Lakeland Regional Airport, located 16 nautical miles southeast of Zephyrhills Airport, 0650 weather observation, reported winds calm, sky conditions scattered at 200 feet above ground level (AGL), visibility 1 statue mile, mist, temperature 25 celsius, dewpoint 25 celsius, and the altimeter setting was 30.02. The Vandenberg Airport, weather observation located 16 nautical miles southwest of Zephyrhills Airport, reported at 0552, winds 050 degrees and 5 knots, overcast sky at 500 feet AGL, visibility 1.5 statue miles, with mist, temperature 25 Celsius, and dewpoint 25 Celsius. There was no record of the pilot receiving a weather briefing before departure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots continued visual flight into instrument conditions (fog), and subsequent collision with a tree and a residence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 635 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Zephyrhills |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 39450 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 281341N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820921W |
| Event Location Airport | ZEPHYRHILLS MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ZPH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 257 |
| Airport Elevation | 90 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 650 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 153 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 142 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 25 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1270 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14393 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 1 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 645 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81189 |
| NTSB Number | ATL02FA162 |
| 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 | American General Aircraft |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA5B-0453 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1589 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James Rex |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 611 North Gary Rd. |
| Operator City | Lakeland |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33801 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ZPH |
| Departure City | ZEPHYRHILLS |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 620 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ZPH |
| Destination City | ZEPHYRHILLS |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 7 2003 11:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 5067 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |