- Date
- January 20, 2019, 13:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Patterson, LA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N384TLNavion Navion
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern base: Abrupt maneuver
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190120005769A
- Case key
- 98919
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
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from power lines while making an evasive maneuver to avoid birds.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, while on a 3-mile base leg, he encountered a flock of large birds. He aborted the base leg and rapidly descended the airplane to avoid the birds, but the birds followed. The pilot continued the dive and saw power lines nearby. He made an "evasive maneuver (dive down)" to avoid the power lines, but the vertical stabilizer struck the power lines, shearing off the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot maintained airplane control, climbed the airplane, declared "mayday," and requested flight following to an airport without a crosswind for landing. He approached at a higher airspeed to reduce the airplane's left turning tendencies, and during the landing roll, the airplane veered left off the runway into an adjacent field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, while on a 3-mile base leg, he encountered a flock of large birds circling. He aborted the base leg and made a rapid descent to avoid the birds, but the birds followed. The pilot continued the dive and observed power lines in the vicinity. He made an "evasive maneuver (dive down)" to avoid the power lines, but the vertical stabilizer struck the power lines, shearing off the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot maintained control, climbed, declared "mayday", and requested flight following to an airport without a crosswind for landing. He approached at a higher airspeed to reduce the left turning tendencies and, during the landing roll, the airplane veered left off the runway into an adjacent grass and mud field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N384TL
- Reported as
- Navion Navion (D)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- NAV-4-1384
- Built
- 1948
- Airframe hours
- 2,838.73
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-BA, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 3, 2018
- Departed
- REG · Gonzales, LA
- Destination
- PTN · Patterson, LA
- Airport
- PTN · Harry P Williams Memorial
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device
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
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 23, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,327 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 1,327 as pilot in command · 15.5 in the last 90 days · 4.4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Observed at
- KPTN, 2 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 12, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.