Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ashley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morris, Oklahoma 74445
Sunday, December 12, 2004 16:56 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to a witness, who was in a field approximately 1 mile north of the accident site, the airplane was performing aerobatic maneuvers in the area when the airplane flew straight up into the air, and then "fell over into a flat spin." At this point, the witness estimated that the airplane at an approximate altitude of 5,000 feet above the ground. The witness heard the engine "revving up" as the airplane descended behind a tree line. He then heard the airplane impact the ground and the engine stop running. The 1,040-hour pilot, who was occupying the rear seat of the tandem seating experimental bi-plane, purchased the airplane during the first week of July 2004. Post-accident calculations revealed that the airplane was over maximum gross weight and the center of gravity (CG) was aft of the rearward limit. According to page 3-8 of the Christen Eagle II Airplane Flight Manual, "Any particular Christen Eagle II aircraft will recover from any spin type using standard recovery techniques ONLY IF THE AIRCRAFT IS PROPERLY BALANCED. The CG of the aircraft must be within design limits to ensure safe spin recovery. Any aircraft can be dangerously loaded (CG beyond design limits) making spin recovery extremely difficult or impossible. Weight and balance considerations must be taken seriously and pilots must be absolutely certain that the flight CG of their aircraft is within design limits."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's intentional spin, which was unrecoverable due to exceeded aircraft weight and balance limitations as a result of improper preflight planning/preparation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/12/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1656 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Morris |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 74445 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353956N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0955120W |
| Event Location Airport | Ashley Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | O36 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 10 |
| Airport Elevation | 731 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OKM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 720 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 658 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17723 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 12 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1756 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N222CE |
| NTSB Number | DFW05LA037 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Crosley |
| Aircraft Model | Christen Eagle II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | Crosley-0001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1520 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 568 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Edward Vaughn |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RR 2 Box 296L |
| Aircraft Owner City | Morris |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74445 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OKM |
| Departure City | Okmulgee |
| Departure State | OK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 11 2005 10:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |