Aircraft Incident/Accident Report


Arriba, Colorado 80804
Thursday, May 5, 2011 17:30 MDT

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NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 5, 2011, about 1730 mountain daylight time an Air Tractor AT-402A airplane, N5192F, impacted terrain after descending from cruise flight near Arriba, Colorado. The commercial pilot received serious injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The aircraft was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 agricultural flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not operating on a flight plan. The airplane departed a private airfield about 1630. A witness observed the airplane at a low altitude heading in a southeasterly direction. Shortly after that, the airplane impacted the ground at a high rate of speed. The witness also noted that the airplane was not performing aerial application at the time. The first responders were able to assist the pilot from the airplane. The pilot was hospitalized and could not remember the details of the flight. A Federal Aviation Administration Inspector responded to the accident site, which was a wide open flat field used for farm crops and no trees or obstacles in the vicinity. The airplane had extensive damage to the airframe and no postcrash fire. All components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. The wreckage was recovered and a follow-up exam conducted at a salvage yard. Examination of the wreckage at the salvage yard revealed control continuity and no pre-impact abnormalities with the airframe. A visual examination of the propeller revealed that all three blades had similar bends and marks. One propeller blade had about 6-inches of the blade tip torn off. Two blades were curled towards the non-cambered side with polishing of the blades. The third blade had multiple bends. The signatures and marks on the three-bladed propeller are consistent with engine power at the time of the accident. A SOTLOC global positioning system (GPS) data card was removed from the airplane and forwarded to the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory for data extraction. Review of the SATLOC data for the accident date started near Arriba, Colorado, at 1536:40 mountain standard time [the time has not been corrected for daylight savings]. The data tracked the airplane in a northwest direction, before the airplane appeared to work an area with multiple back-n-forth tracks. An individual track was then identified as the airplane headed in an easterly direction. The data revealed the airplane was at an altitude of about 5,300 (mean sea level) and an airspeed of 140 knots. The altitude remained about the same until approximately one minute before the data ends at 1626:27. About 1625:00, the airplane started a descent from 5,300 feet and ended at an altitude of about 5,033 feet. According to Google Earth, the elevation of the ground in the general vicinity of the accident site was about 5,080 feet. In the last two minutes of data, the airplane increased its speed from about 140 knots to 158 knots, when the data ends.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
Type of EventAccident 
Event Date5/5/2011 
Event Day of the WeekThursday 
Time of Event1730 
Event Time ZoneMountain Daylight Time 
Event CityArriba 
Event StateCOLORADO 
Event Country-- 
Zipcode of the event site80804 
Event Date Year2011 
Event Date Month
MidAir Collision IndicatorNo 
On Ground Collision occurred ?No 
Event Location Latitude-- 
Event Location Longitude-- 
Event Location Airport-- 
Event Location Nearest Airport ID-- 
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airportOff Airport/Airstrip 
Distance from airport in statute miles-- 
Degrees magnetic from airport-- 
Airport Elevation-- 
Weather Briefing Completeness-- 
Investigator's weather sourceWeather Observation Facility 
Time of the weather observation1755 Mountain Daylight Time 
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees)-- 
Weather Observation Facility IDKLIC 
Elevation of weather observation facility-- 
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?)25 
Time Zone of the weather observationMDT 
Lighting ConditionsDay 
Lowest Ceiling Height-- 
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height-- 
Sky/Lowest/Cloud ConditionsClear 
Sky Condition for Lowest CeilingNone 
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet)-- 
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles)-- 
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10 
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius)18 
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit)-3 
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic)160 
Variable Wind IndicatorWind direction could be determined 
Wind Speed (knots)10 
Wind Velocity Indicator -- 
Wind Gust IndicatorNot Gusting 
Wind Gust (knots) -- 
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.09 
Density Altitude (feet)-- 
Intensity of Precipitation-- 
METAR weather report -- 
Event Highest InjurySerious 
On Ground, Fatal Injuries-- 
On Ground, Minor Injuries-- 
On Ground, Serious Injuries-- 
Injury Total Fatal-- 
Injury Total Minor-- 
Injury Total None-- 
Injury Total Serious
Injury Total All
Investigating AgencyNTSB 
NTSB Docket Number (internal use)-- 
NTSB Notification SourceLincoln Co Sheriff  
NTSB Notification Date-- 
NTSB Notification Time-- 
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information-- 
Date of most recent change to recordMar 27 2012 2:43PM 
User who most recently changed recordbowl 
Basic weather conditionsVisual Meteorological Cond 
FAA District Office-- 
Aircraft Involved
Aircraft #1
Aircraft Registration NumberN5192F 
NTSB NumberCEN11LA323 
Missing Aircraft Indicator-- 
Federal Aviation Reg. PartPart 137: Agricultural 
Type of Flight Plan filedNone 
Flight plan Was Activated?-- 
DamageSubstantial 
Aircraft FireNone 
Aircraft ExplosionNone 
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full NameAIR TRACTOR INC 
Aircraft ModelAT-402A 
Aircraft Series Identifier-- 
Aircraft Serial Number402A-1093 
Certified Max Gross Weight-- 
Aircraft CategoryAirplane 
Aircraft Registration Class-- 
Aircraft is a homebuilt?No 
Flight Crew Seats-- 
Cabin Crew Seats-- 
Passenger Seats-- 
Total number of seats on the aircraft
Number of Engines
Fixed gear or retractable gearFixed 
Aircraft, Type of Last InspectionAnnual 
Date of Last InspectionOct 10 2010 12:00AM 
Airframe hours since last inspection-- 
Airframe Hours2249 
ELT InstalledNo 
ELT ActivatedNo 
ELT Aided Location of Event SiteUnknown 
ELT Type-- 
Aircraft Owner NameKOCH BERNARD L 
Aircraft Owner Street Address44010 COUNTY ROAD 3H 
Aircraft Owner CityARRIBA 
Aircraft Owner StateCO 
Aircraft Owner CountryUSA  
Aircraft Owner Zipcode80804-9523 
Operator is an individual?Yes 
Operator NameKOCH BERNARD L 
Operator Same as Owner?Yes 
Operator Is Doing Business As-- 
Operator Address Same as Owner?Yes 
Operator Street Address44010 COUNTY ROAD 3H 
Operator CityARRIBA 
Operator StateCO 
Operator CountryUSA  
Operator Zip code80804-9523 
Operator CodeZJZG 
Owner has at least one certificateNone 
Other Operator of large aircraft?No 
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation-- 
Operator Certificate Number-- 
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not-- 
Indicates Domestic or International Flight-- 
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail-- 
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary)Aerial Application 
Second Pilot on BoardNo 
Departure Point Same as EventYes 
Departure Airport Code-- 
Departure CityArriba 
Departure StateCO 
Departure CountryUSA 
Departure Time1630 
Departure Time ZoneMDT 
Destination Same as Local Fltdest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere 
Destination Airport Code-- 
Destination CityArriba 
Destination StateCO 
Destination CountryUSA 
Specific Phase of Flight-- 
Report sent to ICAO?-- 
Evacuation occurred-- 
Date of most recent change to recordMar 12 2012 3:00PM 
User who most recently changed recordhatc 
Since inspection or accidentLast Inspection 
Event Location Runway Number and LocationN/A 
Runway Length-- 
Runway Width-- 
Sight Seeing flightNo 
Air Medical FlightNo 
Medical Flight--