- Date
- January 22, 1989, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Fe, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9961Pitts S1A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890122001089A
- Case key
- 22715
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Pilot in command failed to maintain adequate altitude and clearance on final approach.
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
Acft settled on final app, struck pwr lines, and subsequently crashed on the airport. Plt was familiar with the airport and the lines were marked with high vis balls. Plt could not remember anything about the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9961
- Reported as
- Pitts S1A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1969 WA
- Airframe hours
- 604
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Johnson, Lawrence F.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 4, 1988 · 18 hours before
- Airport
- TX66 · Rebel Field, runway 17, 1,600 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,450 total · 394 in this make and model · 1,400 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.