Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brookings Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Brookings, Oregon 97415
Sunday, August 21, 2011 12:12 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying the newly purchased airplane on a cross-country flight under visual flight rules (VFR); the pilot had not filed a VFR flight plan. As he neared his intermediate destination airport, the pilot obtained an in-flight weather briefing, which indicated that airmen’s meteorological information (AIRMET) Sierra for instrument meteorological conditions was active and included the arrival airport and surrounding area. The AIRMET reported ceilings below 1,000 feet and visibility below 3 statute miles in broken conditions. The destination airport, located about 1 mile south of the accident site, reported visibility less than 1/4 statute mile, fog, and ceiling overcast at 200 feet. The pilot had not filed an instrument flight rules flight plan. It is likely that the pilot’s visibility was obscured by clouds and that he did not realize how low he was flying while on approach to the airport.
One witness reported seeing and hearing the airplane circling overhead while it was on approach to the airport and then hearing impact sounds. One witness reported seeing the airplane descend out of the cloud base, which he estimated was about 170 feet above the surface. He observed the airplane bank right, strike a tree, cartwheel, strike another tree, and then hit the ground. Another witness stated that she saw the airplane strike a tree and that, at the time, there was “a little fog.” A postaccident examination of the airplane and engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s improper decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a collision with trees while on approach for landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/21/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1212 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Brookings |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97415 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 420417N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1241714W |
| Event Location Airport | Brookings Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BOK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 459 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1832 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBOK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 459 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| 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) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | SPECI KBOK 211832Z AUTO 23003KT M1/4SM FG OVC002 1 |
| 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) | 32933 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Federal Aviation Administratio |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 5 2014 5:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N199BF |
| NTSB Number | WPR11FA395 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MAULE |
| Aircraft Model | M-7-235C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25032C |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 28 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 803.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Louis J. St. Martin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houma |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70364 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Louis J. St. Martin |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Houma |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70364 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BOK |
| Destination City | Brookings |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2014 8:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | cort |
| 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 | -- |