# Accident 19981214033429A: Cessna 337, Lufkin, TX, December 14, 1998 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: December 14, 1998, 14:00 local time - Place: Lufkin, TX - Airport: Angelina County Airport - Damage: Destroyed - Phase of flight: Go Round (Aborted VFR) - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 31.3305° N, 94.7202° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.3305&lon=-94.7202&mi=10 - Aircraft: N536RK, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N536RK-1999-04-26) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Cessna 337G (registry code 2075730, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-337g) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 337 - Reported engine: CONT IO360A - Fatal injuries: 0 - NTSB investigation: [NTSB FTW99LA047](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW99LA047) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19981214033429A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. ACFT LEFT WING STRUCK THE GROUND ON LANDING, AND THE ACFT SLID BETWEEN TWO HANGARS AND CAUGHT FIRE. (.19) ON DECEMBER 14, 1998, APPROXIMATELY 1400 CENTRAL STANDARD TIME, A CESSNA 337 MULTI-ENGINE AIRPLANE, N536RK, WAS DESTROYED DURING A POST IMPACT FIRE FOLLOWING IMPACT WITH THE GROUND WHILE ATTEMPTING A GO-AROUND MANEUVER ON RUNWAY 33 AT THE LUFKIN MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, LUFKIN, TEXAS. BOTH OCCUPANTS, THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE) AND A PILOT RATED PASSENGER (PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE), RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND A FLIGHT PLAN WAS NOT FILED FOR THE TITLE 14 CFR PART 91 PERSONAL FLIGHT. THE AIRPLANE, WHICH WAS CONFIGURED WITH A PUSH/PULL PROPELLER THRUST SYSTEM, WAS OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM CONROE, TEXAS, ABOUT 1330. THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND PROVIDED THE NTSB INVESTIGATOR-IN-CHARGE WITH A WRITTEN STATEMENT WHICH OUTLINED THE FLIGHT EVENTS PRIOR TO AND DURING THE ACCIDENT. HE STATED THAT EARLIER IN THE DAY (ABOUT 1115), HE FLEW THE AIRPLANE TO CONROE, TEXAS, TO HAVE MAINTENANCE DONE. AFTER THE MINOR AIRFRAME MAINTENANCE WAS COMPLETED, HE PICKED UP HIS PILOT RATED PASSENGER, AND FLEW AN UNEVENTFUL VFR FLIGHT BACK TO LUFKIN. UPON ENTERING THE LOCAL LANDING PATTERN FOR RUNWAY 33, THE PILOT RECEIVED AIRPORT ADVISORY INFORMATION STATING THAT THE WINDS WERE FROM 010 DEGREES AT 6 KNOTS. ON FINAL APPROACH TO LAND, HE NOTED THAT HE FLARED THE AIRCRAFT "LATE", AND THE AIRCRAFT CONTACTED THE RUNWAY IN A "LEVEL ATTITUDE" WHICH RESULTED IN A "HARD LANDING AND BOUNCE". THE AIRCRAFT "BOUNCED" A SECOND TIME, AND THE PILOT NOTED THAT THE BOUNCE WAS "REALLY HIGH", WITH THE AIRCRAFT DRIFTING TO THE LEFT. AFTER THE AIRPLANE BOUNCED A THIRD TIME, THE PILOT CALLED FOR A "GO-AROUND", AND "FIRE-WALLED EVERYTHING". THE PILOT THEN NOTED THAT WHEN HE "PUSHED THE ENTIRE POWER QUADRANT FORWARD", THE AIRPLANE IMMEDIATELY ENTERED A SEVERE LEFT TURN WITH FULL LEFT YOKE DEFLECTION, WHICH (HE) COULD NOT REVERSE. AT THIS POINT, THE AIRPLANE WAS IN A STEEP LEFT TURN, HEADING 90 DEGREES LEFT OF THE RUNWAY HEADING, TOWARDS HANGARS. THE PILOT THEN "PULLED THE NOSE UP TO TRY (TO) GET OVER THE HANGARS, AND THE AIRPLANE PROBABLY STALLED". THE AIRPLANE THEN IMPACTED THE GROUND LEFT WING DOWN AND SLID BETWEEN TWO HANGARS. A FIRE ERUPTED AS BOTH OCCUPANTS EXITED THE AIRCRAFT. THE AIRPLANE WAS CONSUMED BY THE POST IMPACT FIRE. (.4) ON DECEMBER 14, 1998, APPROXIMATELY 1400 CENTRAL STANDARD TIME, A CESSNA 337 MULTI-ENGINE AIRPLANE, N536RK, WAS DESTROYED DURING A POST IMPACT FIRE FOLLOWING IMPACT WITH THE GROUND WHILE ATTEMPTING A GO-AROUND MANEUVER ON RUNWAY 33 AT THE LUFKIN MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, LUFKIN, TEXAS. BOTH OCCUPANTS, THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND [PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE] AND A PILOT RATED PASSENGER [PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE], RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND A FLIGHT PLAN WAS NOT FILED FOR THE TITLE 14 CFR PART 91 PERSONAL FLIGHT. THE AIRPLANE, WHICH WAS CONFIGURED WITH A PUSH/PULL PROPELLER THRUST SYSTEM, WAS OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM CONROE, TEXAS, ABOUT 1330. THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND PROVIDED THE NTSB INVESTIGATOR-IN-CHARGE WITH A WRITTEN STATEMENT WHICH OUTLINED THE FLIGHT EVENTS PRIOR TO AND DURING THE ACCIDENT. HE STATED THAT EARLIER IN THE DAY [ABOUT 1115], HE FLEW THE AIRPLANE TO CONROE, TEXAS, TO HAVE MAINTENANCE DONE. AFTER THE MINOR AIRFRAME MAINTENANCE WAS COMPLETED, HE PICKED UP HIS PILOT RATED PASSENGER, AND FLEW AN UNEVENTFUL VFR FLIGHT BACK TO LUFKIN. UPON ENTERING THE LOCAL LANDING PATTERN FOR RUNWAY 33, THE PILOT RECEIVED AIRPORT ADVISORY INFORMATION STATING THAT THE WINDS WERE FROM 010 DEGREES AT 6 KNOTS. ON FINAL APPROACH TO LAND, HE NOTED THAT HE FLARED THE AIRCRAFT "LATE", AND THE AIRCRAFT CONTACTED THE RUNWAY IN A "LEVEL ATTITUDE" WHICH RESULTED IN A "HARD LANDING AND BOUNCE". THE AIRCRAFT "BOUNCED" A SECOND TIME, AND THE PILOT NOTED THAT THE BOUNCE WAS "REALLY HIGH", WITH THE AIRCRAFT DRIFTING TO THE LEFT. AFTER THE AIRPLANE BOUNCED A THIRD TIME, THE PILOT CALLED FOR A "GO-AROUND", AND "FIRE-WALLED EVERYTHING". THE PILOT THEN NOTED THAT WHEN HE "PUSHED THE ENTIRE POWER QUADRANT FORWARD", THE AIRPLANE IMMEDIATELY ENTERED A SEVERE LEFT TURN WITH FULL LEFT YOKE DEFLECTION, WHICH [HE} COULD NOT REVERSE". AT THIS POINT, THE AIRPLANE WAS IN A STEEP LEFT TURN, HEADING 90 DEGREES LEFT OF THE RUNWAY HEADING, TOWARDS HANGARS. THE PILOT THEN "PULLED THE NOSE UP TO TRY [TO] GET OVER THE HANGARS, AND THE AIRPLANE PROBABLY STALLED". THE AIRPLANE THEN IMPACTED THE GROUND LEFT WING DOWN AND SLID BETWEEN TWO HANGARS. A FIRE ERUPTED AS BOTH OCCUPANTS EXITED THE AIRCRAFT. THIS AIRPLANE WAS CONSUMED BY THE POST IMPACT FIRE. (-23) THE PILOT OF THE CESSNA 337 LANDED "VERY HARD" AND BOUNCED THREE TIMES (ANOTHER EYEWITNESS SAYS FOUR TIMES). THE PILOT ATTEMPTED A GO-AROUND, DRIFTED TO THE LEFT AND ENTERED A STALL/SPIN FROM A VERY LOW ALTITUDE. THE CESSNA 337 HIT THE GROUND IN A 45 DEGREE LEFT BANK AND CRASHED INTO A WOOD FRAME STORAGE BUILDING AND A METAL HANGAR 160 FEET FROM THE POINT OF INITIAL IMPACT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DEMOLISHED IN THE CRASH AND POST-CRASH FIRE, BUT THE PASSENGER AND PILOT EXITED THE AIRPLANE WITH ONLY MINOR INJURIES. ## 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 FTW99LA047](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW99LA047), Dec 14, 1998: Cessna 337 (N536RK), Lufkin, TX, destroyed. Probable cause: The inadvertent stall due to the pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing. 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.