Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Festus Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Festus, Missouri 63028
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 17:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted terrain while attempting to land at the departure airport immediately after takeoff. The passenger reported that prior to takeoff the weather at the airport was "sunny and nice, with a slight breeze." The passenger stated that the takeoff was "real smooth" and when they turned to the west they immediately saw dark clouds. The passenger reported that the pilot immediately decided to return to the airport because of the approaching storm. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane banking erratically while on approach to runway 18 and one witness stated the airplane "turned on its left side and went behind the trees." The airplane impacted left wing first approximately 36 feet off the left side of runway 18. The wreckage path was about 77 feet long and was on a 145 degree magnetic heading. The on-site inspection of the airframe, engine, and related systems did not reveal any evidence of pre-impact malfunction. The passenger reported that the pilot did not verify weather conditions prior to departure and that the approaching storm was not visible from the airport. The airport is located in a valley which is flanked by higher elevation to the west and east. A Convective SIGMET was current at the time of the accident and encompassed the accident location. The Convective SIGMET was issued for a severe line of thunderstorms moving east-southeast at 20 knots, with cloud tops reaching 41,000 feet mean sea level (msl), wind gusts of 60 knots, and 1.5-inch diameter hail. Intense to extreme weather radar returns (50 to 55 dBZ) consisting of level 5 and 6 thunderstorms passed over the accident site between 1659 and 1729. Level 5 and 6 thunderstorms are characterized as "Intense" and "Extreme" by the National Weather Service. A plot depicting the radial wind velocities indicated northerly winds of 36 knots or greater as the thunderstorms passed over the accident site. A witness reported that wind was blowing "extremely hard from the west" and that leaves and debris were "blowing almost horizontally above the road surface."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight weather evaluation and his failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing approach. A contributing factor to the accident was the pilot's inadvertent flight in close proximity to a severe thunderstorm associated with high velocity/gusting winds and rain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/20/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Festus |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63028 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381150N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0902305W |
| Event Location Airport | Festus Memorial Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FES |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 433 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1725 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CPS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 413 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 29 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20901 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 20 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2007 9:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration - St. Louis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N45522 |
| NTSB Number | CHI05FA103 |
| 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 | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15076959 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rodney Allan Forbes |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 20568 Highway FF |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mexico |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 65265 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FES |
| Departure City | Festus |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1655 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FES |
| Destination City | Festus |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 15 2006 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2202 |
| Runway Width | 49 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |