Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fabens Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fabens, Texas 79838
Friday, May 16, 2003 16:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The tailwheel-equipped airplane drifted off the right side of the 4,200 feet long, 60 feet wide asphalt runway during the landing roll. The 1,100-hour pilot attempted to go around. During the attempt to go around, the airplane struck the top of a sand dune with the main landing gear. The pilot attempted to avoid a hill directly in front of him and attempted to turn the airplane to the left. Subsequently, the airplane struck a second sand dune with the main landing gear and tailwheel and landed hard coming to rest upright. The pilot reported the wind was from approximately 340 degrees at 5 knots at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain terrain clearance. The pilot's attempt to avoid an obstacle was a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fabens |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79838 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 313056N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1060849W |
| Event Location Airport | FABENS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E35 |
| 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 | 3679 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1651 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ELP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3958 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5510 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14605 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 19 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque FSDO, SW01 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N478RD |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA152 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | A188B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18802609 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4200 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 5 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 6766.8 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David Armstrong |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 378 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Clint |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79836 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOx 378 |
| Operator City | Clint |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 79836 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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 | E35 |
| Departure City | FABENS |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | E35 |
| Destination City | FABENS |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2003 4:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |