NTSB Factual Report

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On February 16, 2000, at 0748 central standard time, a mid-air collision occurred between a Cessna 182M, N91994, and a Cessna 208B, N9505B, while both airplanes were maneuvering near the McAlester Regional Airport, McAlester, Oklahoma. The Cessna 182 was destroyed, and the Cessna 208 sustained substantial damage. The non-instrument rated private pilot of the Cessna 182 sustained fatal injuries, and the airline transport rated pilot of the Cessna 208 was not injured. There were no passengers in either airplane. The Cessna 182, which was registered to the private pilot, was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a personal cross-country flight; the flight departed from Neosho, Missouri, with a planned destination of Carrizo Springs, Texas, and no flight plan was filed. After receiving an in-flight weather report of instrument meteorological conditions along his route of flight, the pilot of the Cessna 182 elected to divert to McAlester Regional Airport. The Cessna 208, which was registered to MartinAire Inc., of Carrollton, Texas, was operating under 14 CFR Part 135 as a non-scheduled cargo flight (MartinAire 633) for which an IFR flight plan was filed; the flight departed from the McAlester Regional Airport at 0745 and was en route to Hugo, Oklahoma. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

According to the pilot of the Cessna 208, as he was taxiing for takeoff, he heard the pilot of the Cessna 182 make a radio call on the non-towered airport's common traffic advisory frequency (123.0) asking for an airport advisory. The pilot of the Cessna 208 responded to the Cessna 182 pilot, stating that the winds were from 020 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 23 knots, and he was going to depart from runway 01. The Cessna 208 pilot reported that he did not hear any further radio calls from the Cessna 182. Upon reaching runway 01, the pilot of the Cessna 208 determined that there "were no other planes in the pattern and nobody on the radio," and announced his intentions to takeoff from runway 01. He made his takeoff, climbed straight-out until the airplane reached 500 feet agl and then turned the airplane left onto the crosswind leg. He maintained the climb until the airplane reached approximately 1,000 feet agl, leveled out, and turned left onto the downwind leg. He continued on the downwind leg until the airplane was "past mid-field." Prior to turning left to a heading of 160 degrees on course for Hugo, he looked to the left to clear the area and "was surprised to see an object coming closer." He determined that the object "was a high-wing Cessna coming from slightly above and behind [his] left wing-tip," which was descending toward his cockpit. He reduced power, rolled right and nosed down. He stated that the Cessna 182 "turned left as in a normal x-wind to downwind turn [and] did not take evasive action." He further stated that the Cessna 182 "flew over [his] cockpit and the 2 planes hit in a glancing blow." Subsequently, the Cessna 182 impacted the ground, and the Cessna 208 returned to the airport and landed on runway 01.

According to witnesses, prior to the collision the "Cessna 208 was in front with the Cessna 182 above and behind," and it appeared as if the "smaller plane accelerated toward the big plane." One witness reported that he observed "2 planes collide, touching wings." Following the collision the two witnesses observed a piece of the Cessna 182's structure, which they described as a wing, separate and, subsequently, the airplane entered a descent, began "spinning," and impacted the ground. They reported that the Cessna 208 continued flying and returned to the airport.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot of the Cessna 182 was issued a private pilot certificate (airplane single-engine land) on June 26, 1963. He held a third class medical certificate dated October 6, 1997, which stipulated that he "must have available glasses for near vision," and that it was "valid for 12 months following the month examined." On the application for the medical certificate the pilot reported that the he had accumulated a total of 2,000 hours flight time.

The pilot of the Cessna 208 was issued an airline transport pilot certificate from the FAA on March 19, 1999. He was hired by MartinAire, Inc., on March 24, 1999, and satisfactorily completed his most recent airman competency/proficiency check on November 11, 1999. The pilot reported that he had accumulated a total of 4,251 hours at the time of the accident, of which 971 were in the make and model of the accident airplane. He was issued a first class medical certificate on February 14, 2000, with no limitations. Additionally, he holds an air traffic control tower operator's certificate.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The 1969 high-wing, green on white, Cessna 182 was powered by a 230-horsepower Continental O-470-R engine and was equipped with a 2-bladed McCauley propeller. According to the airframe and engine logbooks the airplane underwent its most recent annual and 100 hour inspections, respectively, on October 30, 1999, at a total time of 2,864.9 hours. The tachometer was found at the accident site and indicated that the airplane had accumulated a total of 2,903.8 hours at the time of the accident.

The 1988 high-wing, blue on white, Cessna 208 was powered by a 600-horsepower Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114 turboprop engine, and was equipped with a 3-bladed McCauley propeller. The airframe and engine underwent their most recent inspections in accordance with the company's FAA Approved Aircraft Inspection Program (AAIP) on January 29, 2000. The airframe had accumulated a total of 7,725.4 hours and the engine had accumulated a total of 2,613.7 hours since major overhaul, at the time of the accident.

AERODROME INFORMATION

The McAlester Regional Airport is located 3 miles southwest of McAlester, Oklahoma. The airport's elevation is 770 feet msl, and it has one runway, runway 01/19 which is 5,602 feet long and 100 feet wide. Both runway 01 and runway 19 have designated left hand traffic patterns. The airport's common traffic advisory frequency is 123.0. The FAA McAlester Flight Service Station (FSS) is located on the airport. The FSS does not provide airport advisory service for traffic at the airport.

ATC COMMUNICATIONS

The following excerpt of communications occurred between an in-flight briefer (IF) at the McAlester FSS, and the pilot of the Cessna 182 (N91994) and the pilot of the Cessna 208 (MA633). The communications were recorded on the McAlester FSS briefer frequency of 122.65.

0727:33 N91994 McAlester radio, Cessna niner one niner niner four, over.

0727:52 IF November niner one niner niner four, McAlester radio.

0727:55 N91994 McAlester, niner niner four ah, we're inbound, we're southeast uh, of ya'alls uh, station, I'm headed uh, for uh, CZT uh, Carrizo Springs and I'll be refueling in Corsicana, CRS, I'm wondering wha, what that weather is uh, uh, south, over.

0728:45 IF November niner niner four uh, roger sir and uh, we have airmets out through, through about the Waco area for occasional moderate turbulence below eight thousand feet, and then from uh, say about Paris on down there's an airmet out for IFR conditions till one seven zero zero zulu, and uh, just checking out the uh, weather for ya uh, ceilings uh, down around the uh, Dallas-Fort Worth area are anywhere from about eight hundred feet, let's make that six hundred feet up to about a one thousand four hundred feet and your visibilities are anywhere from two and one half miles up to about five miles and uh, down at Corsicana, they're currently reporting and this was a special that came out at one four uh, winds one two zero at four, visibility four, mist, and they've come up to a ceiling of one thousand one hundred overcast, temperature's one eight, dewpoint is one eight and the uh, McAlester da, uh, altimeter is three zero one niner, where you filed IFR down there sir?

0729:54 N91994 I had not filed, I was flying uh, VRS, uh, uh, uh, V uh, VFR, I mean, uh, uh ceiling uh, is it suppose to uh, improve uh, as the day goes on, over.

0730:13 IF November niner niner four uh, that's affirmative sir uh, the uh, airmet uh, for the IFR should end about uh, one seven zero zero zulu and VFR flights not recommended uh, say past Paris. Paris right now is eight hundred broken, one thousand one hundred overcast and two and one half miles and mist, so they're IFR there.

0730:36 N91994 Okay, I, uh, the eight hundred, I'm just wondering, could I go in uh, say uh, uh, would I be uh, be safe uh, going into Paris and uh, waiting this out a little while or should I get on the ground before that, over.

0730:53 IF November niner niner four, roger sir, well Paris is IFR so you'll probably need to land before that, maybe at Antlers, maybe uh, here at McAlester or, or somewhere like that.

0731:04 N91994 Nine four okay, well we'll just uh, think we'll just head on into McAlester, thank you sir.

0748:04 MA633 McAlester traffic, correction, McAlester radio, Martec six thirty-three on a mayday call, airplane just hit my airplane, he crashed, he's, uh,[explicative], he's uh, he hit by the railroad tracks, I'm trying to make it back to the field.

RADAR DATA

Radar data obtained from the Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) revealed one airplane with a 1200 beacon code moving from the northeast to the southwest, toward the McAlester Regional Airport, near the time of the accident. The following table includes time and altitude for the airplane. According to ARTCC personnel, radar coverage in the airspace is not available below 3,200 msl.

TIME ALTITUDE(feet above msl) 0736:09 6,500 0737:57 6,400 0738:58 6,400 0739:58 6,300 0740:58 5,900 0741:59 5,300 0742:59 4,800 0744:00 4,300 0745:00 3,700 0745:48 3,200

At the time of the last radar return, the target was approximately 2.5 nautical miles northeast of the McAlester Regional Airport.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

At 0753, the weather observation facility located at the McAlester Regional Airport reported the visibility as 10 miles, winds from 020 degrees at 16 knots gusting to 19 knots, ceiling 1,900 feet overcast, temperature 48 degrees Fahrenheit, dewpoint 36 degrees Fahrenheit, and altimeter 30.23 inches of mercury.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The Cessna 182 came to rest approximately 2 miles south of the airport, adjacent to a railroad track. A GPS receiver recorded the wreckage location at 34 degrees 51.77 minutes north latitude and 095 degrees 49.02 minutes west longitude. The linear energy path was 150 feet in length from the initial impact point with trees to the final component along the path, and was oriented on a heading of 200 degrees magnetic. The initial impact point with the ground was a crater 20 feet from the initial impact point with trees, and contained the left wing strut, the propeller blades and hub, the inboard section of the left aileron, and the left cabin door. The engine came to rest 27 feet from the initial impact point with trees, a portion of the cabin (from mid-cabin aft), right wing, empennage, and tail remained intact and came to rest approximately 50 feet from the initial impact point with trees. The last component of the airplane located along the energy path was identified as one of the two main landing gear wheels. The major structural components of both wings were identified along the wreckage path. No evidence of contact with the Cessna 208 was identified during the examination of the Cessna 182.

During the examination of the Cessna 182, the flap actuator was measured and the flap setting determined to be extended 20 degrees. Flight control continuity could not be established as result of impact damage. The cabin (mid-cabin forward) and cockpit were consumed by fire. The flight and engine instruments were destroyed by impact forces and fire. The propeller blades and hub assembly were examined. One propeller blade separated at the hub, and the second blade exhibited "S" bending and had gouges in the leading and trailing edges.

Damage to the Cessna 208 was confined to the outboard portion of the left wing and left aileron, which were bent upwards approximately 60 degrees, 5 feet inboard from the wing-tip. Chordwise scratching and white paint transfer marks were observed on the outermost 12 inches of the bottom skin of the left wing. This section of wing skin was crushed upward with the damage increasing in severity from the wing trailing edge toward the wing leading edge. The wing-tip cap was crushed inward, and the outermost 12 inches of the left wing leading edge were crushed and torn.

MEDICAL INFORMATION

An autopsy was performed on the pilot of the Cessna 182 by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Toxicological test results for the pilot of the Cessna 182 revealed that diltiazem, a prescription drug for the control of blood pressure, was detected in the lung and muscle tissue; additionally the results revealed no concentration of ethanol. Post accident drug test results reported by the SAH Occupational Health-Reno, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for the pilot of the Cessna 208, were negative for amphetamine, cocaine, phencyclidin, cannabinoid, and opiates.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Cessna 182 was released to the owner's representative on February 17, 2000, and the Cessna 208 was released to MartinAire Inc., on February 18, 2000, following the on-scene examination of both airplanes.

NTSB Probable Cause

The failure of both pilots to maintain visual lookout while maneuvering in the traffic pattern.