Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Mississippi 39350
Saturday, May 1, 2004 10:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with a guy wire while in low altitude cruise near Philadelphia, Mississippi. The pilot had just passed over Philadelphia Municipal Airport and turned left to a heading of 140 degrees, cruising at an altitude of 1600 feet. The pilot stated that at the reduced power setting of 2000 RPM, the airplane had a slightly higher angle of attack than normal cruise. After about 8 minutes on the heading of 140 degrees, the pilot felt a shock on the airframe and heard a loud noise. The airplane turned 30 degrees to the left. The airplane was still flyable so the pilot proceeded to the nearest airport, Barrett Field in Philadelphia, Mississippi and landed without incident. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Examination of the airplane revealed that both left wings were broken off from the middle portion of wing, left wing spar damaged and the left aileron almost completely detached. The pilot stated that "aircraft with characteristics of tandem seating with Pilot-In-Command in the rear, and forward visibility obscured to any degree above the level flight path should not be flown for long periods on a steady heading. Small course changes, left and right will eliminate the obscured area."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to see and avoid a guy wire which resulted in an in-flight collision.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/1/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Philadelphia |
| Event State | MISSISSIPPI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 39350 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0890600W |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMEI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 297 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19836 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 4 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2006 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Jackson FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N32DS |
| NTSB Number | ATL04CA108 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Sawyer |
| Aircraft Model | Skybolt |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 01 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1690 |
| 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 | Nov 20 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 1346 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert Langley |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 707 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Louisville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39339 |
| 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 | Louisville |
| Operator State | MS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 39339 |
| 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 | LMS |
| Departure City | Louisville |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1015 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Merdian |
| Destination State | MS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 24 2004 3:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |