# Accident 19950915029731A: Socata TB9, New Smyrna Beac, FL, September 15, 1995 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: September 15, 1995, 16:44 local time - Place: New Smyrna Beac, FL - Airport: New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport - Damage: Destroyed - Collision: Midair collision, first aircraft - Phase of flight: Final Approach - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 29.0204° N, 80.9203° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=29.0204&lon=-80.9203&mi=10 - Aircraft: N117ER, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N117ER-1996-09-12) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Socata TB 9 TAMPICO (registry code 8680694, https://openairdocs.org/model/socata-tb-9-tampico) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: SOCATA TB9 - Reported engine: LYC O320D2A - People aboard: 3 - Fatal injuries: 3 - NTSB investigation: [NTSB MIA95FA224](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA95FA224) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19950915029731A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. ON LONG LOW FINAL WAS STRUCK FROM ABOVE AND BEHIND BY PLANE TURING FROM CLOSE IN BASE. (.19) ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1995, ABOUT 1644 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, AN AEROSPATIALE TB-9, N117ER, OPERATED BY EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY (EMBRY-RIDDLE) AND A PIPER PA-38-112, N2351A, OPERATED BY SPRUCE CREEK AVIATION, COLLIDED WHILE ON FINAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 11 AT NEW SMYRNA BEACH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, NEW SMYRNA BEACH FLORIDA. BOTH FLIGHTS WERE 14 CFR PART 91 INSTRUCTIONAL FLIGHTS. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME AND NEITHER FLIGHT HAD FILED A FLIGHT PLAN. N117ER WAS DESTROYED AND THE COMMERCIAL-RATED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR AND TWO STUDENT PILOTS WERE FATALLY INJURED. N2351A RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE AND THE PRIVATE-RATED PILOT WAS NOT INJURED. N117ER ORIGINATED FROM DAYTONA BEACH REGIONAL AIRPORT, ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1995, ABOUT 1540. N2351A ORIGINATED FROM SPRUCE CREEK AIRPORT, DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA, ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1995, ABOUT 1610. THE PILOT OF N2351A STATED HE HAD PERFORMED FOUR PREVIOUS LANDINGS ON RUNWAY 11 AT NEW SMYRNA BEACH AND WAS ON HIS FIFTH APPROACH. HE REPORTED HIS POSITION BY TRANSMITTING ON THE AIRPORT UNICOM FREQUENCY (UNICOM) WHILE ON THE DOWNWIND LEG. HE TUR NED BASE LEG, REPORTED HIS POSITION ON UNICOM, AND VISUALLY CHECKED FOR OTHER AIRCRAFT ON FINAL. HE DID NOT HEAR OR SEE ANY OTHER AIRCRAFT. HE TURNED TO FINAL AND ESTABLISHED HIS AIRSPEED AT 70 KNOTS. WHILE ON SHORT FINAL HE HEARD SOMEONE ON THE UNICOM FREQUENCY SAY TWO PLANES ON FINAL, TOMAHAWK GO AROUND. AT THE SAME TIME HE HEARD A NOISE FROM THE BOTTOM OF HIS AIRCRAFT AND THEN SAW N117ER NOSING DOWN IN FRONT OF HIM. HIS PROPELLER THEN CONTACTED SOMETHING. HIS ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH AND HE PROCEEDED TO LAND ON THE RUNWAY. WITNESSNES REPORTED THAT N2351A HAD BEEN IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN FOR RUNWAY 11 FOR SEVERAL APPROACHES AND LANDINGS. THE PILOT WAS FLYING A VERY CLOSE PATTERN TO THE RUNWAY. NO ONE COULD REMEMBER HEARING N117ER REPORT IN THE PATTERN. THEY SAW N117ER ON FINAL APPROACH, AND N2351A ROLLING WINGS LEVEL ONTO FINAL APPROACH JUST ABOVE AND BEHIND N117ER. THE PILOT IN AN AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND CALLED ON UNICOM THAT THERE WERE TWO AIRPLANES CLOSE TOGETHER ON FINAL. THERE WAS NO REACTION FROM EITHER AIRCRAFT. ANOTHER PILOT, IN AN AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND THEN CALLED FOR N2351A TO GO AROUND. SHORTLY AFTER THIS, N117ER WAS OBSERVED TO NOSE UP 10-20 DEGREES AND THEN IMMEDIATELY NOSE DOWN TO A NEAR VERTICAL DESCENT FROM WHICH IT IMPACTED ON THE DISPLACED AREA OF RUNWAY 11. ## Other aircraft in the event - N2351A, Piper PA38112: [Accident 19950915029732A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19950915029732A) ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB MIA95FA224](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA95FA224), Sep 15, 1995: Aerospatiale TB-9 (N117ER), New Smyrna Bch, FL, destroyed, 3 fatal. Probable cause: the failure of the pilots of both aircraft to see and avoid each other. From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.