Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ringgold, Texas 76261
Thursday, January 22, 2004 9:50 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 16,000-hour commercial pilot was on a routine pipeline patrol at an altitude of 300 feet above ground level, when the outboard part of the right wing of the airplane came in contact with a tower support wire. After impact the pilot "deemed the plane flyable," and elected to return to the departure airport. The pilot reported that the conditions were hazy and that by the time he saw the tower, it was too late to take evasive actions. The utility tower was depicted on the sectional chart.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilots failure to maintain clearance from the support wire while on a pipeline patrol flight. A contributing factor was the haze restricting the pilots forward visibility, and low altitude flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/22/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 950
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Ringgold
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76261
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 335058N
Event Location Longitude 0975643W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 5
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
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) 30.32
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 15517
NTSB Notification Source Cour Andrew: Barr Patrol
NTSB Notification Date Jan 22 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1342
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 Fort Worth FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9374H
NTSB Number FTW04LA064
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182R
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18267939
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Nov 24 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 47.2
Airframe Hours 8231.8
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name United Helicopters Inc DBA
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1442 Airport Blvd Ste #11
Aircraft Owner City Mesquite
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75181
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) Aerial Observation
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code HQZ
Departure City Mesquite
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 820
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code GUY
Destination City Guymon
Destination State OK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 25 2004 5:33PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --