Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Livingston Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Livingston, Texas 77351
Tuesady, December 9, 2003 17:56 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted trees, power lines, and terrain while on final approach at night in gusty and high wind conditions. A witness stated the airplane was "extremely low, and [the airplanes] never fly that low." The airplane traveled over his home, impacted a tree on his neighbor's property, and came to rest in the backyard of an adjacent property, approximately 2,600 feet short of runway 30. Another witness heard the impact, which he initially thought the wind had caused a tree or something to hit power lines. The 73-hour private pilot, who was reported to have accumulated a total of 15.2 hours in the accident airplane, was occupying the right seat. The 21-hour student pilot was occupying the left seat. A wind monitor located 1 mile from the accident site, recorded an average wind speed of 44 mph, a peak wind of 52 mph, and a wind direction of averaging 355 degrees. Examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to compensate for the wind conditions and maintain control of the airplane during the final approach. Contributing factors were the gusty and high wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/9/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1756 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Livingston |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77351 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 304040N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0950046W |
| Event Location Airport | Livingston Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 00R |
| 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 | 120 |
| Airport Elevation | 151 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UTS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 363 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15689 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 9 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1915 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| 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 | N98287 |
| NTSB Number | FTW04FA038 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-26147 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39.66 |
| Airframe Hours | 4265 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James R. Lowe |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1009 Tom Cummings Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Livingston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77351 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 6R3 |
| Departure City | Cleveland |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 00R |
| Destination City | Livingston |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 26 2004 8:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 3700 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |