Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Sedona, Arizona 86336
Friday, July 10, 1998 19:10 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was filming a commercial and was making coordinated low passes with a car on the ground while attempting to drop a mailbag into the car for purposes of the commercial story line. On the last pass, the pilot impacted the top 2 1/2 feet of a tree while flying about 50 to 60 mph. He reported that the tree was off the aircraft nose and stated that he never saw it. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft prior to the accident, nor was there any visibility restriction.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to maintain a visual clearance with the trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/10/1998
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1910
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City SEDONA
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 86336
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
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 airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1858 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID FLG
Elevation of weather observation facility 7011
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 13000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 573
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 10 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2021
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 16 2001 11:57AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5050C
NTSB Number LAX98LA227
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 de Havilland
Aircraft Model DH-82A
Aircraft Series Identifier DH-82A
Aircraft Serial Number NL875
Certified Max Gross Weight 1770
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ELVIS BAKER
Aircraft Owner Street Address RR 1 BOX 494-DD
Aircraft Owner City LAVEEN
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85339
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SEZ
Departure City SEDONA
Departure State AZ
Departure Country
Departure Time 1730
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2001 6:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --