Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Savannah - Hardin County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waterloo, Alabama 35677
Sunday, August 1, 2004 16:21 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot told an acquaintance he would fly the airplane over the acquaintance's home and over the river. Two witnesses in a boat, both of whom were certificated flight instructors, observed the airplane flying low and circling over the river as if searching for a house or a boat. The witnesses then saw the airplane slowly descend to approximately 50 feet above the water, level off, and continue to fly over the water for about a mile or more. They then saw the airplane nose up steeply and climb to approximately 250 to 300 feet. The witnesses stated, "the aircraft stalled, made a half turn to the right, and plunged nose-first into the water." Examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction was observed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering at low altitude, which resulted in a stall and subsequent uncontrolled descent and collision into water.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/1/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1621 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Waterloo |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35677 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345438N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0880338W |
| Event Location Airport | Savannah - Hardin County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSNH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 17.3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 473 |
| 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) | 116 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMSL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 550 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18395 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 1 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1759 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO - 09 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N970SP |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA164 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172S8172 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 71.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 2363.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Douglas Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11299 Airport Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Olive Branch |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38654 |
| 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 | KSNH |
| Departure City | Savannah |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KOLV |
| Destination City | Olive Branch |
| Destination State | MS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 5 2005 12:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |