Tuesday, August 18, 2020

CSA Sportcruiser, N467SC: Accident occurred August 14, 2020 in Gober, Fannin County, Texas

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. 

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity:

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Fort Worth, Texas

https://registry.faa.gov/N467SC


Location: Gober, TX
Accident Number: CEN20LA339
Date & Time: 08/14/2020, 0800 CDT
Registration: N467SC
Aircraft: Czech Sport SPORTCRUISER
Injuries: 2 Serious
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation - Instructional

On August 17, 2020, about 0800 central daylight time, a Czech SportCruiser airplane, N467SC, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Gober, Texas. The flight instructor and student pilot were both seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

According to information provided by the pilots, they were conducting stall recovery training about 2,000 ft above ground level, when the airplane entered a stall and they were unable to recover the airplane. The ballistic recovery system was deployed, and the airplane impacted terrain in a nose low attitude.

The airplane was retained for further examination.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Czech Sport
Registration: N467SC
Model/Series: SPORTCRUISER No Series
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: Yes
Operator: Thrust Flight
Operating Certificate(s) Held: Pilot School (141)

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KTKI, 586 ft msl
Observation Time: 0753 CDT
Distance from Accident Site: 30 Nautical Miles
Temperature/Dew Point: 31°C / 21°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Clear
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 9 knots / , 230°
Lowest Ceiling: None
Visibility: 10 Miles
Altimeter Setting: 29.9 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: VFR
Departure Point: Dallas, TX (ADS)
Destination: Dallas, TX (ADS)

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries:2 Serious
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion:None
Total Injuries: 2 Serious
Latitude, Longitude: 33.479444, -96.098056




GOBER, Texas (KTEN) -- A small plane on a pilot training flight crashed in this rural Fannin County community on Friday morning.

The aircraft went down in a pasture behind Monty Babers' house in the 1500 block of County Road 3315 around 8 a.m.

"I'm getting out of the shower and I hear a knock on my door, and my mom's freaking out," he recalled. "She said, 'There's a plane crash!'"

He found the plane upside-down after hitting the ground.

"They could've landed out in the tree line; they could've landed in a piece of water; but luckily they landed just right here in the open in our back pasture and the plane wasn't like crushed or damaged," Babers said. "I run out there and luckily my dad and brother are here, and they are emergency medical services, and they were able to get the passengers out of the plane."

He said the plane's exit was blocked by the ground, so Babers' father and brother lifted the aircraft to extract the two occupants, identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as flight instructor Brittany Crews of Dallas, 35, and student Brett Patterson of Oklahoma City, 29. They were taken to Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville for a checkup; DPS Sgt. Mack Tackett characterized their injuries as non-life threatening.

The flight originated at Addison Airport near Dallas, and the incident will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Authority and the National Transportation Safety Board.

"I think we were trying to practice stalls, and I guess maybe didn't have enough altitude, and something went wrong," Babers said.

The single-engine aircraft, a Czech Sport Aircraft SportCruiser, was equipped with an optional parachute for emergency situations. It apparently deployed in this case to slow the plane's descent.

"At least we were able to pull them out intact and get them out safety and they were coherent and stable," Babers said. "Not what I expected on a Friday morning... not how I expected to start my weekend."

BRS Aerospace, the company that makes the parachute safety system, says its product has been installed on more than 35,000 aircraft and has saved 426 lives.

Gober is located 8 miles southeast of Bonham. The nearest two airports are each about 5 miles from the crash site.

https://www.kten.com

2 comments:

  1. Well, I imagine BRS Aerospace can add several more to the 426 lives saved by their chutes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The video at the story link shows the chute dragging the plane around on the ground after it came to a stop. Wind must have had the plane moving fast horizontally before hitting the dirt to get flipped like that. Still a great save.

    ReplyDelete