Cincinnati West Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Harrison, Ohio 45211
Sunday, October 10, 2004 16:40 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilots of the Cessna 172 and Cessna 152 were participating in a "spot landing" contest at the airport. The pilot of the C-172 departed, and he said he observed the C-152 takeoff. The C-172 pilot continued in the left traffic pattern, believing the C-152 was well behind him. The C-172 pilot turned onto final at an altitude of 500 feet, about 1 mile from the runway. The pilot of the C-152 turned onto the base leg, abeam the runway numbers, "very close" to the runway, and then turned final at 200-300 feet AGL. Both aircraft continued in descending, stabilized approaches, and about 1/4 mile from the runway, the aircraft collided and began a slow descending spiral, locked together, until they impacted a gravel pit. The pilot of the C-152 reported his position on the UNICOM frequency, only on the downwind leg. Additionally, he did not check final approach for other aircraft prior to turning final, nor did he hear any other radio calls on the frequency. The pilot of the C-172 reported that he announced his position on the downwind, base, and final legs of the approach. He additionally stated that he only heard the pilot of the C-152 announce his position once, on the downwind leg. According to FAR 91.113(g), "Aircraft, while on final approach to land or while landing, have the right-of-way over other aircraft in flight."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The Cessna 152 pilot's improper traffic pattern procedure and improper radio communication, which resulted in a mid-air collision with a Cessna 172. A factor in the accident was both pilots' failure to maintain an adequate visual lookout.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/10/2004
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1640
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Harrison
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 45211
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator Yes
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 391532N
Event Location Longitude 0844627W
Event Location Airport Cincinnati West Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID I67
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 584
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1654 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 120
Weather Observation Facility ID CVG
Elevation of weather observation facility 897
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.14
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 2
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18648
NTSB Notification Source FAA Great Lakes Region
NTSB Notification Date Oct 10 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1815
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 Cincinnati FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N68298 N12625
NTSB Number NYC05LA002A NYC05LA002B
Missing Aircraft Indicator -- --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None None
Flight plan Was Activated? No No
Damage Substantial Substantial
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna Cessna
Aircraft Model 152 172
Aircraft Series Identifier -- --
Aircraft Serial Number 15282237 17262123
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670 2550
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class -- U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2 4
Number of Engines 1 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 2004 12:00AM Aug 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection -- 13
Airframe Hours 2765 5526
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No No
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name Harrison Social Flites Inc Harrison Social Flites Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO Box 11265 PO Box 504
Aircraft Owner City Cincinnati Harrison
Aircraft Owner State OH OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 45211 45030
Operator is an individual? No No
Operator Name -- --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Street Address -- --
Operator City -- --
Operator State -- --
Operator Country -- --
Operator Zip code -- --
Operator Code -- --
Owner has at least one certificate None 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 Personal
Second Pilot on Board No No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes Yes
Departure Airport Code I67 I67
Departure City Harrison Harrison
Departure State OH OH
Departure Country USA USA
Departure Time 1635 1635
Departure Time Zone EDT EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code I67 I67
Destination City Harrison Harrison
Destination State OH OH
Destination Country USA USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach - VFR pattern - final approach Approach - VFR pattern - final approach
Report sent to ICAO? No No
Evacuation occurred No No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 19 2005 5:50PM Aug 19 2005 5:50PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD MUZD
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA NA
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --