Wendell H. Ford Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Whick
Monday, August 28, 2006 14:40 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane departed on a long cross country flight, with thunderstorms and rain squalls along the general route. Approaching the destination airport, the airplane entered a rain squall, stalled, and impacted the ground in an almost vertical descent. Other than the onboard weather radar being previously removed for maintenance, there were no mechanical anomalies noted with the airplane. The pilot, whose logbook was not recovered, was not instrument-qualified. Although he was recently observed flying four to five times weekly, when the pilot applied for a multi-engine rating about 3 1/2 months earlier, he indicated 107 hours of total flight experience.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The non-instrument-rated pilot's continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his subsequent failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Contributing was the instrument meteorological conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/28/2006
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1440
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Whick
Event State --
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 41390
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 372407N
Event Location Longitude 0832122W
Event Location Airport Wendell H. Ford
Event Location Nearest Airport ID K20
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 6
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1505 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 110
Weather Observation Facility ID K20
Elevation of weather observation facility 1250
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 200
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0.25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 20
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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 7
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 7
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23318
NTSB Notification Source KY State Police
NTSB Notification Date Aug 28 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 31 2008 11:52AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Kentucky

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N408JC
NTSB Number NYC06FA209
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion Ground
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 401A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 401-0075
Certified Max Gross Weight 6300
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 8
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6387
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jason S. Christie
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Wichita Falls
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76302
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 T47
Departure City Wichita Falls
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 920
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code K20
Destination City Hazard
Destination State KY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 19 2008 7:36PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
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 --