Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mobile Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mobile, Alabama 36608
Tuesady, March 16, 1982 2:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot's nephew stated that the pilot departed from Mobile Regional Airport (MOB), Mobile, Alabama on March 15, 1982 at an undetermined time, in a Beech C24R, N18878. The purpose of the flight was to pick up two passengers from the Louisiana Regional Airport, Gonzales, Louisiana, and take them to the Waynesboro Municipal Airport (2RO), Waynesboro, Mississippi. After dropping his passengers off, the pilot resumed the flight to MOB. When the pilot did not arrive at MOB that evening, his wife contacted a man who worked with him at the Mobile fixed base operator (FBO). The man stated that he heard the pilot on the radio attempting to reach the MOB FBO. However, he said, there was no answer, and no distress was noted in the call. The pilot was unable to land due to bad weather in the area. He then flew back to 2RO, and from there he called his wife in Mobile and advised her that he would stay at 2RO until it opened on March 16, then he would refuel and return back to MOB. Personnel at 2RO reported that they did not see the pilot's airplane on the morning of March 16, 1982. The pilot's wife contacted the local authorities, family, and friends. Search parties organized land and air searches and the news media were contacted. A woman who lived in the Big Creek Lake area called a television station, after seeing the report on television, to report that she heard a small plane in "distress" flying over the lake on the morning of March 16, 1982, between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. A search party searched the lake, but could not find the pilot or the airplane. On March 28, 1982 a teenage boy was fishing in Big Creek Lake when he discovered a body, which was later determined to be that of the pilot. On March 13, 2008, a fisherman, using his depth finder/sonar, located N18878 while fishing. He contacted the Mobile Sheriff's Department, and the airplane was verified to be the missing airplane from March 16, 1982. Examination of the airplane revealed that all fight control surfaces were intact. There was no damage to the propeller, and valve train continuity was established by rotating the propeller. Examination of the engine revealed that there was oil in the oil sump. Further examination of the cockpit revealed that the flap handle was in the retract position. The engine controls revealed that the mixture was full rich, propeller at max rpm, and throttle at max power. The fuel selector was on the right tank, and the ignition key was in the both position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Undetermined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/1982 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 200 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mobile |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36608 |
| Event Date Year | 1982 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 304528N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0882080W |
| Event Location Airport | MOBILE REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MOB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 219 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 23547 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SOUTHERN ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 12 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Alabama FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N18878 |
| NTSB Number | MIA08CA076 |
| 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 | C24R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | MC517 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Edwards Flying Service |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Route 5 Box 71 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mobile |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36608 |
| 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 | 2R0 |
| Departure City | WAYNESBORO |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MOB |
| Destination City | MOBILE |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 24 2008 11:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |