Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Parker County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Weatherford, Texas 76087
Sunday, March 28, 2004 20:55 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On the day of the accident, the 543-hour private pilot landed at an unfamiliar airport and used the threshold markings as his touchdown point. He picked up a passenger, then departed and flew in the local area before returning to the airport later that evening. The pilot had never landed at this airport at night, but knew the runway was short and used the first set of runway lights as his touchdown point, since he could not see the threshold markings. He landed just beyond the first runway lights and applied normal braking. As the airplane continued down the runway, the pilot did not realized he was nearing the end of the runway and tried to abort the landing. The airplane got airborne, but immediately began to sink and it came to rest on an embankment on the opposite side of an interstate. Subsequent investigation of the privately owned (and not federally funded) airport and information provide by pilots based at the airport revealed that it was not uncommon for numerous runway lights (standard household bulbs) to be out of service. The pilot also reported that when he returned to the airport a week after the accident, he noted a gap in the distance between the northern end of the runway's lights and the southern end of the runway's lights. Four light fixtures were absent of light bulbs at the approach end of the runway and many of the light fixtures did not have protective coverings for the bulbs. Several of the uncovered bulbs had no dust or water marks indicating they had been recently replaced. The pilot stated that he most likely landed mid-field due to partial illumination of the runway lighting. He said, "If all the runway lights were illuminated the week before, this accident would not have happened."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudgment of the runway distance due to his misperception of his location point on the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/28/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2055 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Weatherford |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76087 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324446N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0974056W |
| Event Location Airport | Parker County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WEA |
| 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 | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 990 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| 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 | 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) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16515 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 29 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Forth Worth, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N119JM |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA100 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Murphy |
| Aircraft Model | Glasair III |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3004 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1625 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 16 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 1318 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Charles Kerin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 707 Parker Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wylie |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75098 |
| 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 | F18 |
| Departure City | Cleburne |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2030 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WEA |
| Destination City | Weatherford |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2004 5:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | 2889 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |