Columbia Aircraft Mfg LC41 550FG accident near Gurdon, AR
On January 5, 2017, a Columbia Aircraft Mfg LC41 550FG (airplane) was involved in an accident near Gurdon, AR. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 5, 2017
- Place
- Gurdon, AR
- Aircraft
- Columbia Aircraft Mfg LC41 550FG · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 33.909°N, 93.140°W
- NTSB ID
- 20170105X74726
Official records · CEN17FA071
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Excerpts from FAA Air Traffic Control Report: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Transcript of Radio Communications N972JK: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn January 5, 2017, about 1239 central standard time, a Columbia Aircraft 400-LC41 airplane, N972JK, impacted terrain near Gurdon, Arkansas, after a rapid descent. The private pilot and the pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed from impact forces and postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to JMK3 Lands, LLC, and was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed before the cross-country personal flight. The flight originated from McKinney National Airport (TKI), McKinney, Texas, about 1145 with an intended destination of Macon County Airport (1A5), Franklin, North Carolina. According to the air traffic control (ATC) transcript and radar information, the airplane was at a cruise altitude of 17,500 ft mean sea level (msl) when the pilot requested, at 1217:22, an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance to climb to 25,000 feet msl to do an "equipment test," but he did not specify what equipment needed to be tested. The pilot also provided the controller with the required information for a "pop up" IFR clearance. Radar data showed that, about 1229, the airplane climbed to 25,000 ft; at 1232:21, the pilot requested to descend back to 17,500 ft. Radar data showed that the airplane had started to descend before the controller could clear the pilot to descend to 19,000 ft. At 1233:03 and 1233:17, the controller asked the pilot "is everything alright"? The pilot responded that the airplane w
Probable cause
The loss of control in flight for reasons that could not be determined because of the severe impact and postcrash fire damage to the airplane and the lack of information about the airplane emergency that the pilot was experiencing.
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Browse: Arkansas
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
