Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Port Mansfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Port Mansfield, Texas 78598
Thursday, December 10, 2009 22:21 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot and his passenger departed on a 4-hour visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country flight that had them arriving at an oceanside airport at night. Since the destination airport did not have any weather reporting capability, the pilot had to rely on weather from an airport 23 miles away and further inland. The weather conditions deteriorated while en route (ceiling 1,000 to 1,200 foot overcast, visibility 9-10 miles, and a closing temperature/dewpoint spread) so the pilot filed an instrument-flight-rules flight plan with air traffic control (ATC). As he approached his destination, the pilot asked ATC if he could descend to 2,000 feet and "take a look." The controller approved the descent at the pilot's discretion. ATC later cleared the pilot for a visual approach since no instrument approach procedures were available for the airport. The pilot was instructed to descend to 1,600 feet and to report when the airport was in sight. The pilot acknowledged that he had the airport in sight and there were no further communications with him. Radar data revealed the airplane flew southeast toward the airport at an altitude of 800 feet, then flew beyond the airport before it made a left turn toward the shoreline. The last recorded altitude was 600 feet. A witness who lived near the airport heard the airplane flying low over his home and went outside, but he was unable to see the airplane due to heavy haze and reduced visibility. He said the airplane noise traveled toward the shoreline and disappeared. The airplane came to rest inverted in approximately 7-10 feet of water about 1.6 miles east of the airport. Damage to the airplane was consistent with a shallow impact angle with the water, the subsequent recovery operations, and salt water corrosion. All four blades (two on each engine) exhibited symmetrical aft bending and twisting toward low pitch (not feathered), consistent with water impact at low or moderate power. The landing gear was extended and the flaps were fully retracted. Examination of the airplane, both engines, and propellers revealed no premishap mechanical deficiencies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance with the water while on approach (VFR) to land.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/10/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2221 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Port Mansfield |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78598 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263328N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0972609W |
| Event Location Airport | Port Mansfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T05 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2152 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HRL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 36 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26978 |
| NTSB Notification Source | TX DPS |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2010 1:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7781Y |
| NTSB Number | CEN10FA070 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30-686 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3725 |
| 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 | 2 |
| 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 | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Harvey W. Kiniken, Jr |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Amarillo |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Harvey W. Kiniken, Jr |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Amarillo |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | BGR |
| Departure City | Borger |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1819 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | T05 |
| Destination City | Port Mansfield |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2010 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |