Piper PA-22 accident at Mansfield, Ohio, 7 Nov 1959 (F-84F)

Accident narrative

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

### The flights

The PA-22, N9609D, was operated by Stadvec Aviation, Inc., of Akron, Ohio. The flight was a cross-country training trip for a student pilot, Clyde A. Parsons, and his flight instructor, Arthur L. Stanley. Operating under visual flight rules without a flight plan, the airplane departed Akron about 1345 for a nonstop flight to Mansfield and return. No radio contacts were made with any communications facility after departure.

The F-84F, 519360, piloted by First Lieutenant John A. Walter, was part of a four-ship formation training flight attached to the 164th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Led by Captain Emerson E. Lewis, the formation departed Mansfield about 1330 on a local VFR flight plan. After completing high-altitude tactics, cloud coverage prevented a practice jet penetration, so Captain Lewis led the flight underneath the overcast to return to the field.

### The sequence of events

About ten miles northwest of the field, Captain Lewis called the Mansfield tower to request a low approach across the field with the formation, followed by landing instructions. He stated the primary reason for the low approach was to give his number two pilot experience flying close formation at slow speed as part of instrument training. At this time, the formation was heading 170 degrees at 3,500 feet and 300 knots, in a close fingertip formation with the number three and four aircraft on the right.

Captain Lewis stated he descended to 2,600 feet, called the tower again about one mile from the field, and was cleared for the approach. He said he took the formation across the field at 2,600 feet, maintaining the 170-degree heading and 300 knots. After passing the southern boundary of the airport, he began a gentle climb and left turn. At this point, the number two pilot called to report that the number four aircraft had been in a collision. The flight was then at 2,800 feet, indicating 280 knots, in a 30-degree left bank. No other members of the flight saw the PA-22. Captain Lewis noted that in a formation flight, the leader is responsible for maintaining a lookout, as wingmen must depend on the leader for separation.

Tower controllers recalled only one transmission from the F-84F flight, made when the jets were about two miles north of the field. The controllers stated they scanned the entire area for other traffic, saw none, and cleared the flight. They observed the jets cross the airport from north to south—not aligned with any runway—at an altitude that appeared to be the 1,900-foot minimum for a simulated instrument approach, but at a considerably faster speed than normal. Several pilot witnesses agreed the jets crossed at the approximate altitude of most simulated instrument approaches.

Witnesses stated the PA-22 appeared to be in straight and level flight on an easterly heading until the collision. The impact occurred within the control zone, approximately two miles south of the airport.

### What the investigation found

Weather conditions at the time were broken to overcast clouds at 3,500 feet, with 12 miles of visibility and a four-knot southeast wind. The Board concluded weather was not a factor. Both aircraft had been maintained in airworthy condition.

Damage to the aircraft indicated the PA-22 was proceeding northeast and the F-84F south, with their flight paths intersecting at an angle of approximately 78 degrees. The F-84F was in a left bank of about 30 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the PA-22.

A study of the approach angles revealed that the PA-22 pilots and the F-84F formation leader had ample opportunity to see and avoid each other. Assuming the PA-22 was in straight and level flight for at least a minute prior, the sighting angle from the lead F-84F was approximately i9 degrees to the right of its nose, while the angle from the PA-22 to the jets was about 74-1/2 degrees to the left. These angles would have been constant until about five seconds before impact.

The Board did not accept the reasons given for the F-84F low pass. It concluded that 300 knots was not slow flight, the maneuver was not simulated instrument training, and the flight had descended to 1,900 feet rather than the 2,600 feet alleged by the pilots. The Board concluded the pass was a close show formation demonstration at excessive speed that served no useful training purpose, and that National Guard supervisory personnel tacitly condoned the practice.

Regarding the PA-22, the Board concluded the pilot should have informed the tower controller when penetrating the control zone, though this was not required by Civil Air Regulations.

The Board also concluded that the tower controllers did not conduct a thorough or effective scan. Approximately one minute before the collision, the PA-22 was about three miles southwest of the tower, while the jets were about three and a half miles north. The Board believed an effective scan would have allowed controllers to see the PA-22 and issue traffic advisories.

### Probable cause

The Civil Aeronautics Board determined that "the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the jet formation flight leader and the pilots of the PA-22 to see and avoid one another."

The Board found that "a contributing factor was the failure of the tower personnel to see the PA-22 and take appropriate action."