Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73008
Tuesady, March 4, 2008 15:15 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The Safety Board's full report is available at: http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2009/AAR0905.pdf. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-09/05. On March 4, 2008, about 1515 central standard time, a Cessna 500, N113SH, registered to Southwest Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Clinic PC of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, entered a steep descent and crashed about 2 minutes after takeoff from Wiley Post Airport (PWA) in Oklahoma City. None of the entities associated with the flight claimed to be its operator. The pilot, the second pilot, and the three passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operated under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 with an instrument flight rules flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated from the ramp of Interstate Helicopters (a 14 CFR Part 135 on-demand helicopter operator at PWA) and was en route to Mankato Regional Airport, Mankato, Minnesota, carrying company executives who worked for United Engines and United Holdings, LLC.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Airplane wing-structure damage sustained during impact with one or more large birds (American white pelicans), which resulted in a loss of control of the airplane.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/4/2008
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1515
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Oklahoma City
Event State OKLAHOMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 73008
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 352820N
Event Location Longitude 0974002W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1319 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 14
Weather Observation Facility ID PWA
Elevation of weather observation facility 1299
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.86
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 5
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 5
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26203
NTSB Notification Source FAA OKC ATCT
NTSB Notification Date Mar 4 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 29 2009 2:01PM
User who most recently changed record broda
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N113SH
NTSB Number DFW08MA076
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 500
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 500-0285
Certified Max Gross Weight 12000
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 5
Total number of seats on the aircraft 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jan 29 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6487
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Southwest Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Clinic
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO Box 89376
Aircraft Owner City Oklahoma City
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 73189
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Interstate Helicopters Inc
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 5809 Philip J. Rhoads Avenue
Operator City Bethany
Operator State OK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 73008
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PWA
Departure City OKLAHOMA CITY
Departure State OK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1513
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MKT
Destination City MANKATO
Destination State MN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 28 2009 4:38PM
User who most recently changed record lebt
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 --