Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hartselle, Alabama 35640
Monday, July 24, 2006 6:52 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness stated that he was driving on U.S. Highway 31 at 0650 and noticed a low flying airplane buzzing the City of Hartselle and lining up to land at a local airport. The witness continued to the airport to talk the pilot; however upon arrival at the airport the airplane was not there. Another witness stated that he was outside his home before 0700 and observed the airplane flying south southeast in the vicinity of the airport. He observed the airplane make a steep bank estimated at about 45-degrees and level out. The witness stated that he thought the airplane was going to land at the airport so he went inside his house. A short time later his mother departed his home with his daughter and the witness heard a car horn blowing. The witness went outside to investigate and was informed by his mother that there was an airplane inverted in a field adjacent to his home. The witness went to the airplane and observed one occupant who appeared to be fatally injured. Several pilots from the deceased pilot's home base stated that the deceased pilot often made high speed passes, and performed aerobatic maneuvers over and around the airport area, and runway. Examination of the airplane revealed the airplane collided with the ground in a descending nose down attitude. The left wing was pushed aft and the leading edge of the left wing exhibited accordion crushing. Examination of the engine assembly and accessories, airframe, and flight controls revealed no evidence of a precrash mechanical failure or malfunction. Review of performance data for the RV6 airplane revealed the airplane will stall at 49 mph. Post-mortem toxicology testing revealed ethanol in the pilot's blood (.061 percent), urine, and vitreous fluid.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering resulting in an inadvertent stall and collision with trees and the ground. Factor in the accident were the pilot's ostentatious display and impairment due to alcohol.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 652 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hartselle |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35640 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345150N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0864613W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 657 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHSV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 629 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20713 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 24 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2006 9:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO-09 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N112WA |
| NTSB Number | ATL06LA110 |
| 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 | Arter |
| Aircraft Model | RV6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21286 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas B. Coggin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 200 County Road 1506 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cullman |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35055 |
| 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 | 3A1 |
| Departure City | Cullman |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 630 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 5MO |
| Destination City | Harvest |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2006 1:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |