Amateur-built VARIEZE accident near Macon, Missouri, January 5, 1989
On January 5, 1989 at about 6:00 pm local time, a amateur-built VARIEZE, registered N66WR, was destroyed in an accident near Macon, Missouri. It was a ferry flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
CONTINUED FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT ALTITUDE/CLEARANCE ABOVE OBSTACLES. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: LOW CEILING, FOG, RAIN, PILOT DELAYING FLIGHT TO AN ALTERNATE DESTINATION, HIS LACK OF RECENT FLIGHT EXPERIENCE, HIS LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE TYPE OF AIRCRAFT, AND TREES.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 5, 1989 · about 6:00 pm local time
- Place
- Macon, Missouri · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built VARIEZE
- Registration
- N66WR · no longer on the register · serial 328
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Ferry flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE PLT HAD JUST PURCHASED THE ACFT & WAS FERRYING IT FROM ALLEGAN, MI, TO HIS HOME ARPT AT KANSAS CITY, MO. AN EN ROUTESTOP WAS MADE AT PEORIA, IL, WHERE HE REFUELED & CHECKED THE WX. AT PEORIA, FBO PSNL NOTED HE HAD FUEL ON THE SEAT OF HIS PANTS. HE SAID FUEL HAD GOTTEN ON HIS SEAT CUSHION FROM A LEAK AT THE TOP OF A FUEL SIGHT GAUGE (NEAR THE AFT SEAT).HE HAD THE ACFT REFUELED IN A LVL ATTITUDE (RATHER THAN THE USUAL NOSE LOW ATTITUDE) TO KEEP FUEL FROM LEAKING FROM THE GAUGE. BFR DEPG ON THE 2ND LEG OF THE FLT, THE PLT COMMENTED HE WOULD LIKE TO BEAT THE WX TO HIS HOME. DRG FLT, THE ACFTHIT A TREE, WHILE ON A NNW HDG NR MACON, MO, THEN CRASHED & BURNED. IT WAS FND ON 5/5/89. INV REVEALED THERE WAS A LOW CEILING IN THE AREA. APRX 24 MI NORTH AT KIRKSVILLE, MO, THE WX WAS IN PART: 500' OVC, 2 MI VIS WITH LIGHT RAIN & FOG. EXCEPT FOR THE RPRTD FUEL LEAK, NO EVIDENCE WAS FND OF A MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. BEFORE THE PLT LEFT ALLEGAN,HE HAD NO PREVIOUS FLT TIME IN THIS MAKE & MODEL OF ACFT & HAD NOT LOGGED ANY FLT TIME SINCE 8/10/88.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,409 hours in all; 1 in this make and model; 1 in the last 90 days; 1 in the last 30 days; 1,305 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 35 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, October 28, 1988
- Maximum gross weight: 1,200 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-200-A (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: PIA Peoria IL at 4:45 pm
- Destination: MKC Kansas City MO
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 150° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 2 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 37°F (3°C), dew point 36°F (2°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:45 pm from IRK, 24 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.