Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wells, Texas 75976
Monday, November 26, 2012 21:24 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight, the twin-engine airplane encountered a severe thunderstorm that likely contained hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter. After penetrating the thunderstorm, the airplane’s structure failed, which was evidenced by the pieces of the airplane being found up to 0.6 mile away from the main wreckage. The horizontal tail, which was found 0.25 mile from the main wreckage, had dents on the upper surface that were consistent with in-flight hail damage. The left horizontal stabilizer had failed in an upward direction, and the right horizontal stabilizer had failed in a downward direction, consistent with an extreme left roll rate. In addition, both left and right outboard wing sections were partially separated from the remainder of the wing. Although there was no record of the pilot having obtained a FAA weather briefing, it was not possible to determine if the pilot used other sources to obtain weather information prior to the flight. Records of in-flight communications indicated that the pilot was advised of adverse weather, including thunderstorms and moderate, heavy, and extreme precipitation about 15 minutes before his last transmission. At that time, the airplane was 40 miles from the storm. In addition, the pilot confirmed during communications that the airplane was equipped with on-board weather radar (which provided real-time weather), and the controller authorized him to deviate course, if necessary.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s decision to continue the flight into an area of extreme weather, which led to the in-flight encounter with a thunderstorm and structural failure of the wings and tail.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/26/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2124 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Wells |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75976 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 312814N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0945626W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | 2135 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 145 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LFK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 296 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| 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) | 32753 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-ASW-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2014 10:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | brajo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N67SR |
| NTSB Number | CEN13FA073 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 421C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 421C0257 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 13 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6736 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | H-S AIR LP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BROKEN ARROW |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74012 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | John T. Steeper |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BROKEN ARROW |
| Operator State | OK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 74014 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IWS |
| Departure City | Houston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2040 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RVS |
| Destination City | Tulsa |
| Destination State | OK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2014 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | brajo |
| 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 | -- |