- Date
- November 13, 1985, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fayetteville, AR
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N5445SCessna 337B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19851113058259A
- Case key
- 34051
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
The plt and his wife were flying to Alaska with the first en route stop to be canton, TX. The non-plt wife stated that as the acft passed over the departure end of the rwy on takeoff, her husband released the controls and threw his head back. She kept the acft airborne for almost two hrs with help from an airborne plt that was talking to her. Both engs quit from fuel starvation and she made a forced landing three miles from the Fayetteville, AR arpt. She later stated that she felt that her husband had died just after takeoff.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5445S
- Reported as
- Cessna 337B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 337-0545
- Airframe hours
- 1,997
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-C/D, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Joseph T. Wilcoxson
- Registered owner
- Jack Watts
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 10, 1985 · 28 hours before
- Departed
- HOO · Bentonville, AR
- Destination
- 7F5 · Canton, TX
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 3,812 total · 3,110 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FYV, 3 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.