- Date
- April 21, 1996, 19:45 local (Apr 22, 1996, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Bayou La Batre, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5144XRans S6ES
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 3, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960421007939A
- Case key
- 38010
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions. The gusty/crosswind condition was a related factor.
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
The pilot reported that the airplane encountered gusty wind and a downdraft on final approach to runway 18. Subsequently, the airplane struck trees short of the runway threshold.
Factual narrative
On April 21, 1996, about 1945 central daylight time, an experimental Rans S6ES, N5144X, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight, crashed while on approach to the Roy Ray Airport, Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private pilot was not injured.
The flight struck trees short of the runway threshold, while on the final approach to runway 18. According to the pilot's statement on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2; "The north end of [runway] 18 abuts a dirt road, and a stand of trees lies on the north side of the road...when I was within a few hundred feet of the north end of 18, with roughly 75 or 100 feet of clearance over the trees, a downdraft pushed me abruptly down and ultimately down...into the tops of the very last trees between me and the airstrip." The pilot further stated, he should have used a "higher approach speed to account for gusty conditions."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5144X
- Reported as
- Rans S6ES
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1092365
- Airframe hours
- 155
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Douglas I. Johnstone
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 1995 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- 5R7
- Airport
- 5R7 · Roy Ray, runway 18, 2,000 × 200 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
- Left
- Flight hours
- 321 total · 142 in this make and model · 282 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 9 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.