Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spirit Of St Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
Sunday, September 12, 2004 21:16 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed on impact with trees and terrain during an attempted go-around. A post impact fire occurred. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot representing the accident airplane informed the tower that he was 11 miles south of the airport and was inbound for landing on the north runway. The flight was cleared to land on runway 26R. The pilot informed the tower that he was going around. The flight was cleared to make right traffic for runway 26R. At approximately 2116, the pilot confirmed the clearance for right traffic. That was the last transmission received from the flight. The sheriff's report stated, "All of the witnesses stated they saw a low flying aircraft disappear behind the woods before hearing a loud crash and seeing an explosion, which lasted a brief period of time." The flaps were found extended to 25 degrees. An on-scene examination of the wreckage revealed no pre-impact anomalies. An excerpt from the airplane information manual stated, "BALKED LANDING 1. Power -- FULL THROTTLE and 2400 RPM. 2. Wing Flaps -- RETRACT TO 20". 3. Climb Speed -- 55 KIAS. 4. Wing Flaps -- RETRACT slowly after reaching a safe altitude and 70 KIAS. 5. Cowl Flaps -- OPEN." Plotted airplane radar track data showed that the airplane was climbing after its approach. The plot showed the airplane at 550 feet MSL at 2115:47, at about the end of runway 26R. The airplane's highest recorded altitude during that climb was 1050 feet MSL at 2116:33, about a mile west of runway 26R. The next plotted return showed the airplane at 950 feet MSL at 2116:38. The accident site was plotted and it was about a tenth of a mile north of the last return. The pilot's instructor informed management at the flight school that "I endorsed [the pilot ] because he did meet all of the standards for the practical test and he passed his Part 141 Graduation ride. I am writing you because even though [he] performed well on his Grad and will pass his practical test, I am worried about his complacent attitude toward flying and expressing my concern for his safety post check ride."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot not maintaining airspeed and the inadvertent stall he encountered during the go-around. A factor was the tree he impacted during his uncontrolled descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/12/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2116 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chesterfield |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63005 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383904N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0904103W |
| Event Location Airport | SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SUS |
| 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 | 463 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2054 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 91 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 463 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17894 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 12 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | St Louis, MO, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N843MC |
| NTSB Number | CHI04FA257 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18281143 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3110 |
| 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 | Aug 4 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84 |
| Airframe Hours | 419 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Spirit Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1067 North Warson Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Saint Louis |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63132 |
| 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 | SIK |
| Departure City | SIKESTON |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Chesterfield |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Go-around (VFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2005 4:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26R |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |