1982 — July 28, Last Days Ministries sight-seeing takeoff Plane Crash, Lindale, TX — 12

— 12  AP. “Plane overloaded before crash.” Galveston Daily News, TX, 7-30-1982, 7A.

— 12  Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 39435.

— 12  dperley comment in: Veillette. “Weight Matters…” AviationWeek.com, 5-26-2016.

 

Narrative Information

ASN:

Date:                           28-JUL-1992

Time:                           19:22

Type:                           Robertson C-414

Owner/operator:          Last Days Ministries

Registration:                N110VM

Fatalities:                     Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12

Other fatalities:           0

….

Location:                     Lindale, TX

Phase:                          Take off

Nature:                                    Private

Departure airport:        Lindale, TX

Destination airport:     Lindale, TX

 

“Narrative: [from National Transportation Safety Bureau][1]

 

“7-seat aircraft took off with 4 adults and 8 children aboard. Aircraft rotated at about 2000 feet down runway and climbed in a flat nose-high attitude before settling into 30 foot trees about 4223 feet from point of lift-off. Aircraft oscillated violently 2 or 3 times in the pitch axis during the 20-30 second flint. Aircraft was about 445 lbs over maximum gross weight and center of gravity was 4.26 inches aft of the aft limit. On 6/29/82 the pilot took a checkride to have a ‘centerline thrust only’ restriction removed from his multi-engine rating. 59 of his 62 hrs multi-engine were as copilot. He had no formal C-414 training and had received only 2 hours of instruction in conventional multi-engine aircraft. He had never been required to perform weight/balance computations in his military flying or any FAA exam or checkrides. Company management did not comply with insurance stipulations which required pilot of the flight to attend a Cessna flight training school, nor did the pilot satisfy the minimum hour requirements. FAA cert examiner lost cert on 7/10/82, history of incomplete or substandard checkrides. Occupants died of thermal burns and smoke inhalation.” (Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 39435.)

 

AviationWeek.com: In the comments section of an article by Patrick Veillette entitled “Weighty Matters: Miscalculation when loading can have unwelcome consequences,” dated 5-26-2016, there is a repeat of the NTSB Brief cited above in the ASN piece. The comment also includes the NTSB Probable Cause, which we reprint:

 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
“PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION..INADEQUATE..PILOT IN COMMAND…

“AIRCRAFT WEIGHT AND BALANCE..NOT PERFORMED..PILOT IN COMMAND

“AIRCRAFT WEIGHT AND BALANCE..EXCEEDED..PILOT IN COMMAND

“PERFORMANCE DATA..NOT UNDERSTOOD..PILOT IN COMMAND

“LIFT-OFF..PREMATURE..PILOT IN COMMAND

“OVERCONFIDENCE IN PERSONAL ABILITY..PILOT IN COMMAND

“INADEQUATE TRANSITION/UPGRADE TRAINING..COMPANY/OPERATOR MANAGEMENT

 

“Contributing Factors
“INSUFF STANDARDS/REQUIREMENTS,OPERATION/OPERATOR..COMPANY/ OPERATOR MGMT

“INADEQUATE CERTIFICATION/APPROVAL,AIRMAN..FAA(ORGANIZATION)

“PASSENGER BRIEFING..NOT PERFORMED..PILOT IN COMMAND.” (dperley comment in: Patrick Veillette. “Weight Matters: Miscalculation when loading can have unwelcome consequences.” AviationWeek.com, 5-26-2016.)

 

Newspaper

 

July 30: “Lindale (AP) — A twin-engine private plane was overloaded when it crashed at an East Texas religious commune, killing 12 people, including a gospel singer and eight children, a federal investigator said. National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator Warren V. Wandel said the Cessna 414 carried 231 pounds over its limit when it nosedived into a gully surrounded by heavy brush and trees shortly after it took off Wednesday night from an airstrip owned by the commune. Wandel said his preliminary investigation indicated the overloading contributed to the crash. It was a ‘tail-down, nose-up situation’ so the plane could not climb. ‘Both engines were generating power at impact,’ said Wandel. He estimated the plane never climbed higher than 75 to 100 feet. He said the maximum weight allowed on the aircraft would have been 6,350 pounds. But he said the plane carried 6,581 pounds and the weight was disproportionately high in the back of the aircraft. He said all the weight was passengers and fuel; no luggage was aboard. Wandel said Cessna records show six seats were on the plane, including the pilot’s and one auxiliary seat.

 

“The dead included Keith Gorden Green, a one-time gospel recording star who headed the Last Days Ministries, a commune in the rolling hills near this town and bout 90 miles east of Dallas.

 

“Wandel said the plane was traveling at about 76 knots when it clipped some 22- to 25-feet-tall trees about a quarter mile from the end of the runway. ‘It went about 150 feet and landed on its belly in the ravine. The fire happened when the tanks were scraped against the ground and ruptured,’ said Wandel. He said no structural faults were found in the plane….He said no flight plan was filed because the plane was on a sight-seeing flight and not en route to Dallas as commune officials earlier reported….

 

“Other victims included Green’s 2-year-old daughter, Bethany Grace Green, and 3-year-old son, Josiah David Green; Diedre M. Smalley, 32; her husband, John C. Smalley, 37; and their children, her son by a previous marriage, Chen Allen Hysell, 12; and their children, twins James and John Smalley, 7; Daniel Henry Smalley, 4; Timothy Neill Smalley, 3; Kathren Elizabeth Smalley, 2, all of Simi Valley, California; and pilot Don Burmeister, 36, of Lindale.” (Associated Press. “Plane overloaded before crash.” Galveston Daily News, TX, 7-30-1982, 7A.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Plane overloaded before crash.” Galveston Daily News, TX, 7-30-1982, 7A. Accessed 5-12-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/galveston-daily-news-jul-30-1982-p-7/?tag

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 39435. Accessed 5-12-2017 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=39435

 

dperley comment in: Patrick Veillette. “Weight Matters: Miscalculation when loading can have unwelcome consequences.” AviationWeek.com, 5-26-2016. Accessed 5-12-2017 at: http://aviationweek.com/bca/weighty-matters

 

[1] The NTSB Brief is in caps and contains many abbreviations. For readability purposes we do not transcribe in all-caps, and spell-out some abbreviations.