Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Waterloo Regional Airort Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waterloo, Iowa 50799
Saturday, September 29, 2007 20:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage when it impacted trees during a night visual approach for landing. The pilot contacted approach control and was told to enter a left base for runway 18, and was cleared for a VFR descent. The airplane was about 8 miles east of the airport. Flight track data indicated that the airplane approached the airport from the east and flew over the approach end of runway 24, and then flew over the control tower. The airplane flew to the southwest and then turned right and paralleled runway 30 to the northwest. The tower controller provided the pilot with a wind check, and the pilot asked if the runway lights were turned on. The pilot reported that he had the runway in sight. The tower controller re-cleared the airplane to land on runway 18. The approach controller reported that the pilot "eventually got on [a] right downwind to RY 18." The approach controller reported that he observed the airplane's red blinking light on a right base for runway 18, but then lost sight of the airplane. The accident site was located about 1.4 miles north of runway 18. The inspection of the accident site revealed that the tops of 40 - 50 foot tall trees about 100 yards northwest of the impact area had broken tree limbs where the airplane impacted the trees. The inspection of the airplane revealed no pre-impact anomalies. A review of the pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had flown 1 hour and 47 minutes of documented night flight since October 20, 1998. The most recent night flight recorded was 47 minutes logged on December 8, 2003. Official sunset on the night of the accident was at 1856.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from the trees and terrain during a night visual approach for landing. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's lack of recent night flying experience, the night conditions, and the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2020 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Waterloo |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 50799 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423325N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0922401W |
| Event Location Airport | Waterloo Regional Airort |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ALO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 873 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2054 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KALO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 873 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23573 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 29 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 | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA- Des Moines FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N55GW |
| NTSB Number | CHI07LA312 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | B35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-2497 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| 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 | 44 |
| Airframe Hours | 7230 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donald E. Walker |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 130 Summit Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cedar Falls |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 50613 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | UES |
| Departure City | Waukesha |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1856 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ALO |
| Destination City | Waterloo |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2008 9:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 6002 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |