Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Atlanta Rgnl Falcon Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Peachtree City, Georgia 30269
Saturday, August 9, 2014 6:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 9, 2014, about 0600 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150C, N7968Z, owned and operated by a private individual, was destroyed when it impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Atlanta Regional Airport-Falcon Field (FFC), Peachtree City, Georgia. The private pilot and a passenger were fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight destined for Eagle Neck Airport (1GA0), Shellman Bluff, Georgia. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The airplane was owned by the pilot and his wife, and based at FFC. The pilot and his wife also owned a home in a residential community at 1GA0.
According to pilot's wife, the pilot and the passenger, who was her brother, intended to fly to 1GA0 to attend a homeowner's association meeting that was scheduled to begin at 0800.
A witness at the FFC, who was a pilot and air traffic controller, stated that he observed a small single engine airplane depart from runway 13, shortly after 0545. The airplane leveled off about 100 to 200 feet above the ground and continued to fly on runway heading, before he lost sight of it. He further stated that visibility at the time was "somewhat restricted" due to patchy areas of fog or mist, and he estimated the ceiling was about 300 to 400 feet.
A witness, who lived about 3 miles from the end of runway 13 stated that he observed a very low flying airplane about 0600. The airplane was flying about 30 to 40 feet above the tree line and the engine noise sounded normal. He lost sight of the airplane and recalled hearing a "thud," shortly thereafter. At the time, he did not consider that the airplane may have crashed and was not aware of the accident until hearing a news report. He described the weather conditions at the time he observed the airplane as "humid and rather foggy."
The airplane was subsequently found in a wooded area about 3.5 miles southeast of FFC, adjacent to a gravel road.
The airplane's initial impact point was a berm on the side of the road. Debris was strewn for about 80 feet, on a heading about 240 degrees, and the airplane came to rest nose down, in trees facing the opposite direction of the debris path. All major components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. The left wing was separated from the fuselage and contained leading edge compression damage approximately mid-span and was crushed in a tapering fashion toward the left wing tip. The empennage was separated and remained attached via control cables. The right wing remained attached to the center wing section at the aft attachment bolt and was fractured into two pieces at approximately mid-span. The engine remained partially attached to the airframe firewall via engine mounts and various lines, cables and hoses. The propeller, both magnetos, starter, vacuum pump, and carburetor separated from the engine and exhibited impact damage. The propeller was located about 65 feet from the initial impact point and remained attached to the crankshaft flange, which separated from the crankshaft. The propeller blades displayed chord-wise scratches, leading edge gouges, and "S-bending."
A handheld global positioning system receiver was recovered from the cockpit and forwarded to the National Transportation Safety Board's Vehicle Recorder Laboratory, Washington, DC, for download.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land, which was issued on May 16, 2014. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration second-class medical certificate was issued on July 31, 2014. At that time, he reported a total flight experience of 213 hours. The pilot did not possess an instrument rating.
A weather observation taken at FFC, at 0553, reported: calm winds, 6 statute miles visibility with mist, overcast ceiling at 600 feet above ground level, temperature 21 degrees Celsius (C), dew point temperature 21 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 30.05 in-Hg.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Peachtree City |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30269 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331902N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843144W |
| Event Location Airport | ATLANTA RGNL FALCON FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FFC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 138 |
| Airport Elevation | 808 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 554 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FFC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 808 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| 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) | 30.35 |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2014 12:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7968Z |
| NTSB Number | ERA14FA377 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 150C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15060068 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1499 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Albert E. Ensell IV |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Peachtree City |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30269 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Albert E. Ensell IV |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Peachtree City |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30269 |
| 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 | FFC |
| Departure City | Peachtree City |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 555 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1GA0 |
| Destination City | Shellman Bluff |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2014 12:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 5219 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |