Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houston, Texas 77446
Sunday, November 17, 2002 13:44 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
When the private pilot scheduled the instructional flight, he stated that he had an ear operation and needed to see how his ears would feel at altitude before he went for an FAA medical certificate. He also stated that he was contemplating doing some aerial photography, and wanted to see how the aerial visibility was from the airplane during turns at altitude. He flew the airplane to an altitude of 9,500 feet msl where he opened the left window, stated that he wanted to check his ears, and requested that the CFI fly the airplane. The private pilot made two request for the CFI to increase the angle of bank. Subsequently, the flight instructor increased the turn to 45-degree bank and started a 300 to 500 foot per minute descent rate. The CFI heard a "noise that sounded like maybe the seat belt hitting the side of the [air]plane" and the CFI looked to his left and saw the private pilot exiting the airplane. The CFI noticed the #1 radio was already tuned to 121.5 MHz (emergency frequency). The CFI notified the controller that the private pilot had exited the airplane. The CFI landed the airplane without incident. Examination of the aircraft restraint system and the left cabin door did not reveal any discrepancies. Evidence and statements obtained by friends and co-workers of the private pilot indicated an ongoing treatment for depression and a recent intent to take his own life by using an aircraft. A note found in the private pilot's vehicle stated in part: "I'm tired of being depressed. I've been this way for almost 2 months. I'm about ready to do anything to stop feeling this way."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The dual student's intentional suicide by exiting from the airplane during descent. A contributing factor was the psychological condition of the dual student.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1344 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Houston |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77446 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 300233N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0960140W |
| 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 | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DWH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 152 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14003 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 17 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 25 2009 9:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4794P |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA041 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15284819 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9050.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | A B Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 14103 Limerick Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tomball |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77375 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | National Aviation Services, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 20803 Stuebner Airline #29 |
| Operator City | Spring |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77379 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DWH |
| Departure City | Houston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 25 2009 9:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |