# Accident 20040101000809A: Blanca 1730A, Dallas, TX, January 1, 2004

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 1, 2004, 10:05 local time
- Place: Dallas, TX
- Airport: Addison Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Climb
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 32.8992° N, 96.7839° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.8992&lon=-96.7839&mi=10
- Aircraft: N4104B, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N4104B-2014-12-17) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Bellanca 17-30A (registry code 1220433, https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-17-30a) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-520 series (registry code 17032, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BLANCA 1730A
- Reported engine: CONT IO520K
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 2
- Pilot flight hours: 1,050 in this make and model
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB FTW04FA052](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW04FA052) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040101000809A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) ON JANUARY 1, 2004, AT 1004 HRS CST, A BELLANCA BL-17-30A, N4104B, REGISTERED TO DAVID KNOWLES, CRASHED INTO TWO HOMES IN THE 7100 BLOCK OF CURRIN DRIVE IN DALLAS, TEXAS DURING CLIMB OUT WHILE ENROUTE FROM ADDISON AIRPORT (ADS) TO AMARILLO, TEXAS. INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME, AND AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED. AT APPROXIMATELY 1010 HRS ON JANUARY 1, 2004 ^PRIVACY DA^ WAS NOTIFIED BY REGION COMM CENTER THAT THERE HAD BEEN A CRASH. ^PRIV^ THEN NOTIFIED ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ WE ARRIVED ON SCENE AT APPROXIMATELY 1220 HRS. UPON ARRIVAL A POLICE OFFICER NOTIFIED US THAT A PIECE OF DEBRIS HAD BEEN LOCATED AWAY FROM THE CRASH SITE. WE IDENTIFIED THE PART AS BEING A PIECE OF THE PILOTS SIDE WINDOW. IT WAS LOCATED IN THE FLIGHT PATH APPROXIMATELY 250 YARDS PRIOR TO THE IMPACT AREA. THE IMPACT AREA CONSISTED OF TWO HOUSES, ONE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE OTHER. THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE ROOF OF THE FIRST HOUSE, CONTINUED ON THROUGH A BRICK OUTER WALL AND THEN TO THE GROUND WHICH CAUSED THE ENGINE, PROP AND COWLING TO BREAK AWAY. THE REMAINDER OF THE AIRCRAFT CONTINUED ACROSS THE STREET INTO THE GARAGE AREA OF THE SECOND HOUSE. THE MAIN BODY                 OF THE FUSELAGE CAME TO REST UNDER TWO CARS THAT WERE PARKED IN THE GARAGE OF THE SECOND HOUSE. A FIRE ENSUED IN BOTH HOUSES AND ALMOST TOTALLY DESTROYED ALL MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE AIRCRAFT, AND CAUSED MAJOR DAMAGE TO BOTH HOUSES. AN ARM OF ONE OF THE OCCUPANTS OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND LOCATED IN THE AREA CLOSE TO THE ENGINE. MAJOR PORTIONS OF THE OCCUPANTS' BODIES WERE FOUND IN THE WRECKAGE ACROSS THE STREET. IN THE WRECKAGE WE FOUND SEVERAL LOGBOOKS TO INCLUDE AIRFRAME, ENGINE, AND PILOT. THE PILOT LOGBOOK DID NOT SEEM TO BE THE MOST RECENT ONE BECAUSE IT HAD NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 1987. WE ALSO FOUND THE ON BOARD, HAND HELD FIRE EXTINGUISHER OUT OF THE HOLD DOWN BRACKET, WITH THE SAFETY PIN PULLED, COMPLETELY DEPLETED, AND NO MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE CYLINDER. IT APPEARED AS THOUGH SOMEONE HAD INTENTIONALLY USED IT TO COMBAT A FIRE. THE PIECE OF DEBRIS THAT WAS IDENTIFIED TO US BY THE POLICE UPON ARRIVAL WAS IDENTIFIED AS A PIECE OF THE PILOT'S SIDE WINDOW.

## 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 FTW04FA052](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW04FA052), Jan 1, 2004: Bellanca 17-30A (N4104B), Dallas, TX, destroyed, 2 fatal. Probable cause: The failure of flight/navigation instruments while in instrument meteorological conditions (in-cloud flight and low ceilings) resulting in spatial disorientation. A contributing factors was the…

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.

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