St George Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Littlefield, Arizona 86432
Friday, September 20, 1996 19:39 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was being positioned to another airport at night. The flight was over mountainous terrain. The airplane collided with the top of a 4,600-foot bluff. The pilot had a history of transient global amnesia. Examination of the accident site revealed a 567-foot long wreckage path, oriented along the direct course line from the departure point to the destination. Damage to the engine and propeller indicated that the engine was developing power at impact.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with terrain during descent for undetermined reasons. Contributing factors were the dark night and mountainous terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/20/1996
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1939
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City LITTLEFIELD
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 86432
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport ST GEORGE MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SGU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 15
Degrees magnetic from airport 128
Airport Elevation 2938
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1956 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 308
Weather Observation Facility ID SGU
Elevation of weather observation facility 2938
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 79
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 25
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1817
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 21 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 710
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Aug 26 2002 3:42PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6468H
NTSB Number LAX96FA339
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T207A
Aircraft Series Identifier T207A
Aircraft Serial Number 207 00532
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Sep 6 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 47
Airframe Hours 10009
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SCENIC AIRLINES, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 238 TENTH AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City PAGE
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 86040
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 SCIA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code GCN
Departure City GRAND CANYON
Departure State AZ
Departure Country
Departure Time 1851
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SGU
Destination City ST. GEORGE
Destination State UT
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2001 3:43PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 6101
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --