Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Williston Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Williston, Florida 32696
Saturday, March 20, 2010 11:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplanes were both on approach to the destination airport, operating under visual conditions, when they collided about 3 nautical miles southeast of the destination airport. The wreckage of both airplanes came to rest within 100 yards of one another. The Piper was flying on a course to the right of the RV-6’s departure airport. Around the same time, the RV-6 departed, and both airplanes' flight paths nearly paralleled one another as they continued on course to the destination airport. During the next 7 minutes, the Piper made a gradual descent from 5,200 feet mean sea level (msl) to 1,700 feet msl at a ground speed of about 132 knots. The Piper continued on the same heading until about 2 miles before impact, where it made a gradual left turn. The RV-6 (altitudes unknown) continued on the same flight path until about 4 miles before impact, where it began a slow right turn.
The last portion of recorded radar data of the RV-6 and the Piper showed the airplanes were converging on respective true courses of about 328 and 294 degrees. Based upon this radar data, the expected collision angle was calculated to be about 34 degrees. The collision angle between the airplanes was physically determined by measuring the mass intrusion signature of the RV-6's propeller blade into the left wing of the Piper. This signature corresponds to a collision angle of about 44 degrees. Based on this measurement and radar derived ground speeds, the RV-6's convergence angle was calculated to be about 66 degrees right and the Piper’s was 70 degrees left.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots of both airplanes did not maintain an adequate visual lookout to see and avoid each other.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/20/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1145 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Williston |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32696 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 292008N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822505W |
| Event Location Airport | Williston Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X60 |
| 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 | 1135 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OCF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 90 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29730 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2012 2:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N823AG | N788LL |
| NTSB Number | ERA10FA180A | ERA10FA180B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER | SENTMAN LEE H |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-300 | RV-6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7780066 | 002 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | C126 | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARO WINGS LLC | SENTMAN LEE H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1991 SE 195TH TERRACE | 2514 COUNTY ROAD 600 E |
| Aircraft Owner City | MORRISTON | DEWEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32668 | 61840-9714 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes | No |
| Operator Name | -- | SENTMAN LEE H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1991 SE 195TH TERRACE | 2514 COUNTY ROAD 600 E |
| Operator City | MORRISTON | DEWEY |
| Operator State | FL | IL |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32668 | 61840-9714 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DED | OCF |
| Departure City | Deland | Ocala |
| Departure State | FL | FL |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 | 1125 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | X60 | X60 |
| Destination City | Williston | Williston |
| Destination State | FL | FL |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2012 10:25AM | Mar 20 2012 10:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |