Pilot Debrief

BEECH V35 near Winter Haven, FL — 2008-11-23

Final reportERA09LA067
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Date
2008-11-23
Location
Winter Haven, FL, USA
Airport
GIF
Aircraft
BEECH V35
Registration
N4396W
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

Both pilots’ failure to see and avoid the other airplane. Contributing to the accident was the Beech pilot’s failure to monitor or utilize the common traffic advisory frequency.

NTSB narrative

A Piper PA-28-161 airplane had just departed the uncontrolled airport for a local flight, and was making position announcements over the common traffic advisory frequency. It climbed to the north as a Beech V35B airplane approached from the north. The pilot of the Beech airplane was tuned to the automated surface observation system, to prepare for the airport traffic pattern entry. The pilots observed each other as the airplanes approached nearly head on at the same altitude. Both pilots took evasive action and banked sharply to the left. The right wing tip of the Beech airplane contacted the underside of the Piper airplane, resulting in substantial damage to both airplanes. Both airplanes landed without further incident, and the pilots and passengers of both airplanes were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the collision.

NTSB coding

View NTSB final report

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