Orlando Sanford International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Sanford, Florida 32773
Tuesady, July 10, 2007 8:35 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-09-01. On July 10, 2007, about 0835 eastern daylight time, a Cessna Aircraft Company 310R, N501N, part of the fleet operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) corporate aviation division, crashed while performing an emergency diversion to Orlando Sanford International Airport, Orlando, Florida. The two pilots on board the airplane (a commercial pilot and an airline transport pilot) and three people on the ground were killed. Four people on the ground received serious injuries. The airplane and two homes were destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Actions and decisions by National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing's corporate aviation division's management and maintenance personnel to allow the accident airplane to be released for flight with a known and unresolved discrepancy, and the accident pilots' decision to operate the airplane with that known discrepancy, a discrepancy that likely resulted in an in-flight fire. The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-09-01.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/10/2007
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 835
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Sanford
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32773
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 284835N
Event Location Longitude 0811734W
Event Location Airport Orlando Sanford International
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SFB
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 4
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 55
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 130
Weather Observation Facility ID SFB
Elevation of weather observation facility 55
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
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) 30.14
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 3
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries 4
Injury Total Fatal 5
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 4
Injury Total All 9
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 25022
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern Region C-ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 10 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 12 2009 12:08PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office North Florida FSDO, Orlando, Florida

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N501N
NTSB Number NYC07MA162
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 and In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 310R
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 310R0866
Certified Max Gross Weight 5500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 4
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 Oct 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 22
Airframe Hours 4739
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Competitor Liason Bureau, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Daytona Beach
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 23114
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Daytona Beach
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32114
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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) Executive/Corporate
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code DAB
Departure City DAYTONA BEACH
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 822
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code LAL
Destination City LAKELAND
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 19 2012 1:30PM
User who most recently changed record grol
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --