Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Daviess County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Washington, Indiana 47501
Tuesady, January 2, 2007 14:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted trees and terrain while attempting to return to the departure airport after takeoff. The pilot of another airplane who witnessed the takeoff reported that the accident airplane's takeoff appeared "normal." After takeoff, he noticed the accident airplane about 1.5 miles from the departure airport. It appeared to be in a 45 to 60-degree bank turn back towards the airport, below the level of a tree line. The accident airplane subsequently struck the tree line and came to rest in an agricultural field. The post accident inspection did not reveal any anomalies associated with a pre-impact failure of the flight control system. In addition, examination of both engines did not reveal any failures or malfunctions consistent with a loss of engine power prior to the accident. Examination of the left alternator indicated that it was unable to provide the rated electrical power. Examination of the right alternator did not reveal any anomalies, and the unit appeared to be functional. According to an acquaintance of the pilot, the accident airplane was en route to a maintenance facility for a routine annual inspection. He noted that the left alternator appeared to be inoperative prior to the accident flight and that the mechanic had been advised to look at it during the inspection. He knew of no other problems with the airplane prior to the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from trees and terrain while attempting to return to the departure airport for undetermined reasons after takeoff. The intervening tree line was a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/2/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Washington |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 47501 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384017N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0870751W |
| Event Location Airport | Daviess County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DCY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.35 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 473 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LWV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 430 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.37 |
| 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) | 23273 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 2 2007 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 | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Indianapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N678DC |
| NTSB Number | CHI07FA052 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 58 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TH-1517 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2438 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | K & K Industries Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Montgomery |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Abe A. Knepp |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Montgomery |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | DCY |
| Departure City | Washington |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 7K4 |
| Destination City | Hartford |
| Destination State | KY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 13 2008 8:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 4621 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |