Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Festus Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Festus, Missouri 63028
Thursday, December 8, 2011 16:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot had recently purchased the airplane and was receiving flight instruction toward a sport-pilot license. Neither the student pilot nor his instructor had flown the airplane before the accident flight. The certified flight instructor (CFI) reported that the airplane was too high on final approach in order to land on the first third of the runway and that he told the student pilot to perform a go-around while the airplane was about 50 feet above the runway. The student pilot applied maximum engine power, and the airplane entered a steep left climbing turn. The student pilot overcorrected and the airplane subsequently entered a steep right turn. The CFI reported that the airplane was approaching an imminent aerodynamic stall/spin when he assumed control. The airplane collided with trees during the subsequent stall/spin recovery. The CFI stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. He said that the accident could have been prevented had he assumed direct control of the airplane sooner instead of providing verbal corrective actions to the student pilot.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The certified flight instructor’s delayed remedial action as the airplane neared an aerodynamic stall/spin. Contributing to the accident was that the student pilot did not maintain adequate airspeed during the go-around attempt.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/8/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Festus |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63028 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381142N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0902308W |
| Event Location Airport | Festus Memorial Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KFES |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 433 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 26 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCPS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 413 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| 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) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KCPS 082253Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 04/M04 A3019 RMK AO2 |
| 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) | 29641 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA, Great Lakes ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2012 2:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7138K |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA102 |
| 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 | Shook |
| Aircraft Model | Rans S-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1094523 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 8 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 304 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John H. Knight |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fenton |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63026 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | John H. Knight |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fenton |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63026 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KFES |
| Departure City | Festus |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KFES |
| Destination City | Festus |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2012 10:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2202 |
| Runway Width | 49 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |