Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hemphill County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Canadian, Texas 79014
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 13:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The single engine experimental light sport airplane was observed departing from the airport in deteriorating weather conditions that consisted of low ceilings, reduced visibility, heavy rain, and lightning southwest of the airport. The pilot, who held an FAA Sport Pilot certificate, did not file a flight plan and there was no record that he obtained a weather briefing from an automated flight service station prior to departure. The purpose of the flight could not be determined; however, witnesses heard and/or observed the airplane depart and then fly in the vicinity of the airport for approximately 15 minutes before it was reported to police that the airplane had crashed approximately 2.3 miles northwest of the airport.about 16 minutes later. There were no known voice communications from the pilot prior to the accident. A review of the wreckage revealed that the airplane came apart in flight before it impacted terrain. The debris was scattered along a heading of 030 degrees for approximately 1.3 miles. Examination of the fractured wing spars and elevator rear attachment points revealed signatures consistent with overload stresses. In addition, examination of the two seatbelt assemblies revealed that they remained securely attached to their respective airframe attachment points, but were not buckled. The seatbelt material was clean, not stretched, and the metal buckles (male and female) did not exhibit any damage. The canopy's locking mechanism was found in the unlocked position. A toxicological exam revealed positive results for the following drugs; bupropion, an antidepressant medication, was detected in the kidney, bupropion metabolite was detected in the kidney and present in the liver; chloroquine, a medication used for the treatment or prevention of malaria, was detected in the liver; and, diphenhydramine, an antihistamine with sedative effects, was detected in the kidney and liver. No blood, urine, or vitreous was available for analysis.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper pre-flight planning and decision to depart into deteriorating weather conditions, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent in-flight break up.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/2/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Canadian |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79014 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355326N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1002408W |
| Event Location Airport | Hemphill County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HHF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2.2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2394 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1305 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HHF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2394 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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) | 23635 |
| NTSB Notification Source | LBB FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 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 | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N10028 |
| NTSB Number | DFW07LA102 |
| 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 | Walker |
| Aircraft Model | Zenith Zodiac 601 XL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6-5123 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3542.11 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | McMurphy Consulting |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Woodward |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 73801 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HHF |
| Departure City | Canadian |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HHF |
| Destination City | Canadian |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2008 8:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | GAMW |
| 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 | -- |