Page:CAB Accident Report, Mid-Air Collision on 7 November 1959.pdf/1

 File No 2-1753

CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD

ADOPTED: August 22, 1960

MIDAIR COLLISION PIPER PA-22, N 9609D, AND OHIO AIR NATIONAL GUARD F-84F, NEAR MANSFIELD, OHIO, NOVEMBER 7, 1959

On November 7, 1959, at 1416 e.s.t., a Piper PA-22, N 96091D, and an Ohio Air National Guard F-84F, 519360, collided in the air about two miles south-southeast of the Mansfield Municipal Airport, Mansfield, Ohio. The two pilots of the PA-22 received fatal injuries. The pilot of the F-84F ejected from his aircraft and parachuted to the ground uninjured. Both aircraft were totally destroyed.

The F-84F was the No. 4 aircraft in a flight of four jets making a low-altitude pass in close show formation across the Mansfield Airport from north to south. The PA-22 was on a cross-country flight from Akron to Mansfield and return nonstop. At the time of the collision it was in the Mansfield control zone proceeding in a north-easterly direction. The pilot of the PA-22 did not contact the Mansfield tower. The tower controllers cleared the jets for the low pass after scanning the entire area for possible conflicting traffic but failed to see the PA-22. Weather conditions were good and visibility was approximately 12 miles.

Under the circumstances primary responsibility for aircraft separation rested with the pilots of each aircraft. The tower operators also had a responsibility to make certain there was no conflicting traffic before clearing the jet flight. It is clear that none of the personnel concerned were exercising the proper degree of vigilance although there was adequate opportunity to do so.

As a result of this accident the Board has recommended to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency that all formation flights except those involving simulated instrument low approaches and using an observer aircraft be prohibited in control zones and/or in the vicinity of joint-use civil airports. It has also been recommended that all aircraft that are equipped with radio be required to notify the appropriate communications facility when operating in a control zone.

N 9609D was being operated under a lease-purchase agreement by Stadvec Aviation, Inc., of Akron, Ohio. The flight of November 7 was for the purpose of giving cross-country flight training to Mr. Clyde A Parsons, a student pilot. The flight instructor was Mr. Arthur L. Stanley, an employee of Stadvec Aviation. The flight was planned to be from Akron to Mansfield and return nonstop. It was to be conducted according to VFR (visual flight rules) and no flight plan was filed. N 9609D departed USCOMM-DC-27064.