Beaumont Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Beaumont, Texas 77706
Friday, January 2, 2004 18:15 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a night instrument approach, the 13,350-hour flight instructor reported the runway in sight, and cancelled instrument flight rules clearance. Subsequently, the airplane struck a shielded static wire above high voltage transmission lines approximately 52-63 feet in height, before impacting terrain and coming to rest approximately 0.6 nautical miles north of the runway. Air Route Traffic Control had previously reported weather at another airport approximately 13 miles away to be 100 feet overcast with one mile visibility. No mechanical anomalies were noted with the airplane or engine during the course of the investigation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flight instructor's failure to maintain clearance with a static line. Contributing factors were the low cloud ceiling weather conditions and night light conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/2/2004
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1815
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Beaumont
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77706
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 300414N
Event Location Longitude 0941257W
Event Location Airport Beaumont Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BMT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.22
Degrees magnetic from airport 310
Airport Elevation 32
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1812 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 120
Weather Observation Facility ID BPT
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 100
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Overcast
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0.5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) 346
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) 16277
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jan 2 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Houston FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N396HP
NTSB Number FTW04FA054
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion Ground
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-32R-301
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3246030
Certified Max Gross Weight 3615
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 16 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 914.3
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Anderson Air LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1080 Thomas Road
Aircraft Owner City Beaumont
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77706
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Rodney Dean Anderson
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1080 Thomas Road
Operator City Beaumont
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 77706
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 BMT
Departure City Beaumont
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1630
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 Approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 29 2004 11:28AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 13
Runway Length 4000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --