Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74075
Tuesady, May 5, 2009 14:49 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that after leveling off at 16,000 feet with the autopilot engaged, he began to review his charts preparing for landing. When he went back to a visual scan of the instruments, he noted that the flight director was flagged off and that both the pilot and co-pilot attitude indicators were off. The pilot declared an emergency with air traffic control, reduced the throttles to idle, and pulled back on the controls. After the airplane came out of the bottom of the clouds and the pilot regained visual contact with the ground, the airplane was in a 60-degree left turn at approximately 80 knots of airspeed. After the pilot regained control, the flight director and all instruments began working again. The pilot then re-engaged the autopilot and continued to his destination, where he landed without further incident.
Examination of the flight director system, gyros, and attitude indicators at the aircraft manufacturer’s facilities failed to identify a failure or malfunction with the flight instruments.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1449 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Stillwater |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 74075 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0965000W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 1453 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSWO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1000 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| 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 | KSWO 051953Z 12005KT 10SM -RA BKN007 OVC014 17/15 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28302 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional operations Center, AC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 2 2011 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N740JB |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA281 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 551 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 551-0359 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 29 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5125 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BALLARD AVIATION INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6601 W PUEBLO |
| Aircraft Owner City | WICHITA |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67209 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BALLARD AVIATION INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 6601 W PUEBLO |
| Operator City | WICHITA |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 67209 |
| Operator Code | IJAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | KSWO |
| Departure City | Stillwater |
| Departure State | OK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KICT |
| Destination City | Wichita |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2009 2:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gamw |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |