Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Needles, California 92363
Tuesady, August 12, 2008 8:05 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported that the airplane flew about 10 feet above a truck traveling southbound on a highway. It was then observed flying straight and level at low altitude over the two-lane highway, the propeller was turning, and the airplane did not appear to be in distress. Two miles later, a witness saw the airplane make a sharp left turn eastbound to line up with the westbound lanes of a perpendicular interstate highway. Ground scars showed that during the turn the left wing of the airplane contacted the shoulder of the highway prior to the airplane colliding head-on with a westbound car in the number one lane. No evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure of the engine was found during postaccident inspection of the engine. There were numerous suitable areas for landing on and adjacent to the southbound highway prior to reaching the interstate highway. The pilot's autopsy report noted evidence of severe coronary artery disease treated with bypass surgery and stent placement. The pilot also had a history of high blood pressure and non-insulin dependent diabetes. It could not be determined whether the pilot was intending to land on the highway, or if his medical conditions played any role in the accident events. The pilot did not hold a current medical certificate.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a vehicle during a low-altitude flight over a highway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/12/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 805 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Needles |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92363 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345244N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1144507W |
| 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 | 756 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KEED |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 983 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 3 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25551 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Western Pacific Operations |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 12 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 20 2009 11:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Las Vegas FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3156B |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA266 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bowman |
| Aircraft Model | Titan Tornado II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D95XXXC0HK0176 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 3 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 89 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gene A. Sheets |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bullhead City |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86442 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Gene A. Sheets |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Bullhead City |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 86442 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Unknown |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2009 5:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |