Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
General William J Fox Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lancaster, California 93536
Thursday, January 30, 2003 19:37 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with a hangar during a go-around. The flight crew entered the traffic pattern and completed one touch-and-go landing. The crew requested, and the controller cleared them, for a simulated single engine full stop landing on runway 24. The controller thought that the touch-and-go approach and landing was unremarkable and perfectly normal. On the single engine full stop approach, he thought that the airplane made a short approach with the wings rocking back and fourth. The airplane looked like it was low and could possibly land short of the runway. As the airplane approached the end of the runway, it began to veer to the left (from the flight crew's perspective). The controller said it appeared to be headed directly for the control tower as it continued to drift left. The airplane stayed low to the ground and the controller had the impression that the flight crew was attempting to climb. The wing lights were continuously rocking back and fourth as the airplane continued to drift left and it crossed the dirt infield and a taxiway while still airborne. The bank angle then increased sharply to the left, and the airplane disappeared behind some hangars. The controller estimated that the airplane was 1,500 feet from the approach end of the runway when he observed a fireball and alerted rescue crews. The instructor pilot's autopsy noted undiagnosed lung cancer that had metastasized to his brain. The brain showed evidence of severe swelling, with disruption of the normal brain structure. The instructor pilot had been prescribed a pain medication (tramadol), which was found in the instructor pilot's blood at a level consistent with regular use at least at the dose prescribed. The medication is known to increase the risk for seizures, particularly in patients with other potential seizure risks. The effects of the brain swelling and the medication likely produced seizure activity in the instructor which could have significantly interfered with the aircraft controls and made it difficult or impossible for the student to have adequately controlled the aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of aircraft control due to the instructor pilot's incapacitation by seizure activity as a result of his undiagnosed cancer, and his use of a medication that can increase seizure risk.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/30/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1937 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | LANCASTER |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93536 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334447N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181312W |
| Event Location Airport | General William J Fox |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WJF |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1938 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2348 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20280 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 30 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2010 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2006 10:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5639S |
| NTSB Number | LAX03FA078 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | D95A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TD-658 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4270 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Barnes Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4555 W. Ave G |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lancaster |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96539 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | WJF |
| Departure City | LANCASTER |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 26 2006 4:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 150 |
| Runway Width | 7201 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |