Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ellington Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houston, Texas 77034
Saturday, October 18, 2003 18:17 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While maneuvering to land, the pilot inadvertently stalled and impacted the terrain. The pilot had been instructed by air traffic control to increase the separation between it and the airplane it was following. Several witnesses stated the airplane did a series of 360-degree steep turns. During a right turn, the airplane pitched nose up, the wings "wobbled", the airplane descend and entered a partial spin. One witness stated it appeared the airplane, approximately 50 feet agl, attempted to level off; however, then it impacted the terrain in a nose down attitude. Another witness stated the propeller was turning and did not notice any problems with the airplane or engine. The witnesses did not observe any smoke or fire from the airplane prior to the impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin while maneuvering to land.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/18/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1817 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Houston |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77034 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 293644N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0950953W |
| Event Location Airport | Ellington Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EFD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 135 |
| Airport Elevation | 32 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 45 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1051 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15508 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 18 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N681S |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA010 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | General Motors |
| Aircraft Model | FM-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 55585 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7952 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 12 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 1821.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 62000 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Midland |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79711 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Commemorative Air Force |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | EFD |
| Departure City | Houston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | EFD |
| 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 | Mar 31 2004 3:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35L |
| Runway Length | 9001 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |