Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Orange County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Orange, Texas 77630
Friday, September 10, 2004 14:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A 642-hour pilot departed from an airfield and announced that he would be circling around the traffic pattern to make a low pass. A witness stated that he observed the airplane as it approached the runway with the landing gear extended. The witness described the airplane's speed as "moderate" as it passed over the runway at a height of 50 feet above the ground. As the airplane reached the end of the runway it began to climb at a pitch attitude of approximately 10-15 degrees. As the witness began to enter a building, he looked back toward the departure end of the runway and saw the airplane in a rapid descent. It was approximately 600 feet above the ground, the nose of the airplane was pitched down about 30 degrees, and it was in a 10-15 degree right bank. When the airplane was approximately 100-150 feet above the ground, the witness stated the airplane pitched up (about five degrees) and the wings leveled out, but it still continued to descend. The witness did not hear any engine noise during this time. The nose of the airplane continued to pitch up and it banked slightly to the left as it descended behind a tree line. He then heard the engine "roar to what sounded like full power," followed by the sound of an impact. The pilot's total flight time in the make and model could not be determined; however, it was determined that the pilot had recently purchased the airplane as the registration was still pending.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during takeoff resulting in an inadvertent stall and loss of aircraft control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/10/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Orange |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77630 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 300409N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0934813W |
| Event Location Airport | Orange County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ORG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 220 |
| Airport Elevation | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBPT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 15 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2053 |
| 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) | 16861 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMMUNICATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1440 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | HOUSTON, TEXAS |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N163DS |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA236 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Lancair |
| Aircraft Model | 360 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 751 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Registration Pending |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | N/A |
| Aircraft Owner City | N/A |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | N/A |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 6169 NW Duke Circle |
| Operator City | Port Saint Lucie |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 34983 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KORG |
| Departure City | Orange |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 5:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4 |
| Runway Length | 4396 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |