Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
M Graham Clark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Branson, Missouri 65616
Monday, March 20, 2006 12:31 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted a transmission wire, single-story storage building, and terrain, while attempting to return to the departure airport after takeoff. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airport manager reported that the accident airplane's takeoff appeared to be normal. After departure, the accident pilot was unable to establish radio communication with air traffic control (ATC). The controller described the airplane's transmissions as "weak and unreadable." Communications were subsequently relayed through a second aircraft on the ground at the departure airport waiting for a takeoff clearance. The accident pilot declared an emergency approximately 3 minutes after takeoff; however, he did not stated the nature of the emergency. Witnesses in the vicinity of the airport reported seeing the airplane in-flight prior to the accident. Two witnesses stated that they saw the airplane exit the clouds at a high rate of descent before it leveled off. One of them noted that the airplane's flight path was steady. Both of the witnesses lost sight of the airplane behind a ridgeline. Another witness reported the airplane flew past her residence, located on a ridge south of the airport at an "exceptionally low" altitude. She added that the engines were at a "very, very high throttle" setting. Regarding weather conditions at the time, the witness reported that it "was just like a big cloud over Branson," and that she could not see the city at the time. An off-duty airport firefighter, reported that he saw the airplane shortly before the accident. He stated that it appeared to be in normal flight, with the exception that it was low. He added that he didn't hear anything unusual and the propellers were turning. He reported that it was approximately 50 feet above ground level (agl) when it appeared to "stop in mid air," the airplane's tail "spun around" and then it "dropped straight down." He responded to the accident site but was unable to assist the occupants. A post accident fire subsequently consumed most of the aircraft and the storage building. The post accident airframe and engine examinations did not reveal any anomalies associated with a pre impact failure. Both engine propeller assemblies had separated from their respective engine crankshafts, and were located at the accident site. The fracture surfaces exhibited 45-degree shear planes consistent with torsional overload failures. The post accident fire consumed the left vacuum pump. The right vacuum pump exhibited thermal damage, however, upon disassembly, the rotor and vanes were intact. Ceilings at the accident airport were estimated at 400 - 800 feet agl, with the surface visibilities at 1 - 3 miles. Routine weather observations were not available for the accident airport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin while maneuvering to return to the departure airport for landing after declaring an emergency for unspecified reasons. Additional factors were the low cloud ceiling (instrument conditions), the low altitude at the time of the inadvertent stall, the residential power transmission wire and the storage building.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/20/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1231 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Branson |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 65616 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 363810N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0931703W |
| Event Location Airport | M Graham Clark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PLK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 938 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HRO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.76 |
| 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) | 22341 |
| NTSB Notification Source | MEDIA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 20 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Kansas City FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N21RR |
| NTSB Number | CHI06FA094 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-7770405 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3051 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Paul W. Johnson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lubbock |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | PLK |
| Departure City | Branson |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1220 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LBB |
| Destination City | Lubbock |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2007 4:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11 |
| Runway Length | 3739 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |