Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Frank's Flying Service Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cordova, Illinois 61242
Friday, June 12, 2009 16:23 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was conducting an agricultural application pass at the time of the accident. A witness stated that the airplane pulled up over a house, located about mid-field, during a spray run. The witness commented that the airplane pulled up higher than others he had observed, adding that most airplanes “just skim[ed] the trees” when they flew over the house. He reported that the accident airplane dropped back down after it cleared the house, apparently to resume spraying; however, it impacted the ground. The airplane bounced once before settling back down and sliding to a stop. A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any failures or malfunctions consistent with a preimpact failure. The pilot had about 200 hours of agricultural application experience the previous season. However, he had recently started flying the accident airplane, which was about 15 knots faster in spray runs than the airplane the pilot had flown the previous season. The pilot had accumulated about 28 hours in the accident airplane. Postmortem toxicology testing on the pilot’s blood was consistent with use of marijuana and propoxyphene, a prescription narcotic painkiller. However, the source of the blood was not specified. Accordingly, a reliable estimate could not be made of the time of last use or the probability of impairment due to either substance. The pilot had not indicated the use of any medication or illegal drugs or the presence of any medical condition at the time of his most recent medical certificate application.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance with terrain after clearing an obstacle during an agricultural application pass.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/12/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1623 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cordova |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 61242 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414134N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0901826W |
| Event Location Airport | Frank's Flying Service |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4IL5 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 600 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1635 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SQI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 647 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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) | 26338 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-DuPage FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 17 2009 10:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1734S |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA355 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AERO COMMANDER |
| Aircraft Model | S2R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1437R |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 30 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8715 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FRANK'S FLYING SERVICE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MORRISON |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 61270 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FRANK'S FLYING SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MORRISON |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 61270 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 4IL5 |
| Departure City | Morrison |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 4IL5 |
| Destination City | Morrison |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 12 2009 3:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort |
| 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 | -- |