- Date
- December 28, 1985, 16:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Caddo Mills, TX
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 2 uninjured
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA reports
- 19851228066861A19851228066862A
- Case key
- 21881
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Mid-air occurred at uncontrolled arpt with the S-2B executing rt traffic, as published, and the C-172 executing a long final or an arcing lft turn to final. Both acft were attempting to land on rwy 17R. Acdt occurred during late afternoon and there was considerable sun glare. The S-2B came out of the sun and collided with the rt side of the C-172 empennage, causing the tail to sever. At the time, C-172 was wings level in a slight descent, S-2B was in a rt bank, slight nose high attitude, descending. C-172 crashed in an open fld and S-2B regained control and landed without further damage. Witnesses stated that C-172 did not take evasive action and plt's in S-2B stated that they did not see the C-172 until after the collision. Arpt mgr did not recall hearing either acft transmit on UNICOM. Sun glare would have made acquisition of S-2B difficult for C-172 plt and restricted visibility out of S-2B affected visual acquisition of C-172 by it's pilots.
Mid-air occurred at uncontrolled arpt with the S-2B executing rt traffic, as published, and the C-172 executing a long final or an arcing lft turn to final. Both acft were attempting to land on rwy 17R. Acdt occurred during late afternoon and there was considerable sun glare. The S-2B came out of the sun and collided with the rt side of the C-172 empennage, causing the tail to sever. At the time, C-172 was wings level in a slight descent, S-2B was in a rt bank, slight nose high attitude, descending. C-172 crashed in an open fld and S-2B regained control and landed without further damage. Witnesses stated that C-172 did not take evasive action and plt's in S-2B stated that they did not see the C-172 until after the collision. Arpt mgr did not recall hearing either acft transmit on UNICOM. Sun glare would have made acquisition of S-2B difficult for C-172 and restricted visibility out of S-2B affected visual acquisition of C-172 by it's pilots.
Aircraft · 2
- Registration
- N6876X
- Reported as
- Cessna 172B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17247776
- Airframe hours
- 3,752
- Engine
- Continental O-300-D0D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mike C. Neves
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 18, 1985 · 44 hours before
- Departed
- 20TA · Paris, TX
- Airport
- 7F3 · Caddo Mills Muni, runway 17R, 4,000 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
- Registration
- N5305A
- Reported as
- Pitts S-2B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5009
- Airframe hours
- 340
- Engine
- Lycoming AEIO540D4A5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Faulkner Investments
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 12, 1985 · 27 hours before
- Departed
- PLS · Palestine, TX
- Airport
- 7F3 · Caddo Mills Muni, runway 17R, 4,000 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N6876X
- Age
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 725 total · 90 in this make and model · 650 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N5305A
- Age
- 50
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 6,500 total · 21 in this make and model · 5,900 as pilot in command · 81 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DAL, 30 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 2
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.