Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Denton Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denton, Texas 76207
Thursday, October 4, 2007 19:52 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated sport pilot was on a local flight when he noticed that daylight was quickly fading. The pilot immediately elected to initiate a return flight. During the return flight, the pilot became disoriented instead of heading eastbound; he proceeded to follow a highway in a northbound direction. The pilot never saw the city skyline and continued northbound. When the pilot observed a lake thinking it was the one just south of his destination airport, he reported to the control tower that he was over the spillway and entering downwind. However, the flight was actually entering the traffic pattern at a different airport; 31.1 nautical miles north of his intended destination. The pilot turned base leg, overflew the final approach, and then executed a right 270-degree turn for another approach. At this point, the pilot became aware he was at a different airport, but had to land somewhere due to darkness. The pilot avoided the runway approach lights, but flew into the trees short of the runway. The end of civil twilight and beginning of night for this date was 1934 CDT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper preflight planning and preparation which led to his getting lost on a local area flight and his failure to maintain clearance from the trees. Contributing to the accident were the prevailing dark night illumination and the pilot's lack of night flight experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/4/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1952 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Denton |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76207 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 321257N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0971152W |
| Event Location Airport | Denton Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KDTO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 642 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KDTO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 642 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| 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) | 29.87 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24577 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center, FT |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 4 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2008 4:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Worth, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N211LS |
| NTSB Number | DFW08LA001 |
| 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 | Indus |
| Aircraft Model | T211 Thorpedo |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001S |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 23 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 457 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hood Aircraft Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10497 Town and Country Way Suite 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77024 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aviator Air Center |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3122 Great Southwest Parkway |
| Operator City | Grand Prairie |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75052 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KGPM |
| Departure City | Grand Praire |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1905 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KGPM |
| Destination City | Grand Prairie |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 5 2008 4:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gamw |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 5999 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |