Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dulce Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dulce, New Mexico 87528
Wednesday, April 7, 1999 22:59 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the flight from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Farmington, New Mexico, in which no flight plan was filed, the pilot and his pilot-rated passenger were unable to identify the mountains due to the dark night conditions. The pilot realized the VORs were inoperative, and that he was disoriented. He identified the city lights of Dulce, New Mexico, and decided to divert to the old airport, even though it was closed. The pilot began experiencing 'unusual attitudes and was beginning to feel the effects of vertigo,' as he began to encounter snow, fog, and partial obscuration. The aircraft's windshield had also become 'cake[d] with ice.' The controller advised the pilot of the airport's position. He was unable to identify the runway, but observed a police car's flashing light and made the decision to land. Upon landing, the aircraft veered to the left of the runway and impacted a ditch 70 yards from the runway centerline, then nosed over. During the pilot's weather briefings in Farmington and Colorado Springs, the pilot was advised of an AIRMET that had been issued for gusty winds with possible freezing rain and rime icing below 18,000 feet (FL 180), and moderate to severe turbulence en route.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot-in-command becoming disoriented during cruise flight, and his intentional flight into instrument meteorological conditions without proper certification. Factors were the existing weather conditions that included snow, fog, obscuration and icing, the dark night light conditions, the rough terrain condition on which to make a forced landing, and the closed runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2259 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | DULCE |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87528 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | DULCE AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NM01 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 6800 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 114 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 7 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2001 4:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N96212 |
| NTSB Number | DEN99LA063 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17276041 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 2 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 7637 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FOUR CORNERS AVIATION INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1260 WEST NAVAJO |
| Aircraft Owner City | FARMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87401 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | COS |
| Departure City | COLORADO SPGS |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1910 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FMN |
| Destination City | FARMINGTON |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2001 4:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 4800 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |