Scottsdale Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
Saturday, November 21, 1998 12:53 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

N99064, a Cessna 172P reported inbound for landing 3 miles west of a shopping mall reporting point. The local controller told him to enter a right downwind for runway 21 and to 'report the mall inbound for downwind.' About this time, two aircraft (a Cessna 152 and the other airplane involved in the collision, N6342T, a Cessna TR182) were sequentially cleared for takeoff on runway 21 for right crosswind departures. The local controller then informed the 172 that there would be two aircraft making right downwind departures. The 172 pilot asked the controller if he would like him to make 360-degree turns, and the controller told the pilot to continue inbound and to 'maintain visual from the traffic.' The controller issued the inbound traffic to the 182, and the pilot and CFI responded 'negative contact.' The controller informed the 172 that the first of the departures was now in a right crosswind turn. The 172 pilot replied that 'I'm looking.' The controller told the 182 pilot that as he made his right turn, traffic would be at his 11 o'clock position, about 2 miles, northeast bound, and in the pattern. The 182 pilot said he was still looking for the traffic. The 172 pilot reported to the controller that he had a Cessna in front of him. The controller acknowledged and told him that he had additional traffic off his right wing that was currently in a right crosswind turn. The 182 pilot reported that he had 'traffic in sight.' The controller advised him to 'maintain visual from the traffic,' then advised the 172 that 'traffic has you in sight.' The 172 pilot replied that he did not have the traffic. Reconstruction found that the spinner and cowling of the 182 had struck the right side empennage of the 172. Scottsdale Airport, a visual flight rules Air Traffic Control Tower, is equipped with D-BRITE which obtains data from the Phoenix ASR-9. Terrain restrictions prevent the radar from painting targets below 3,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) in the Scottsdale area. The traffic pattern altitude at Scottsdale is 2,500 feet MSL. The D-BRITE has an automated conflict alert.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the solo student pilot to acquire and maintain separation from a departing aircraft in the airport traffic pattern, which had been issued as traffic by the local controller. Also causal was the failure of the pilot and instructor in the other aircraft to maintain separation from this aircraft, which they had previously acknowledged as in sight. The inadequate D-BRITE radar repeater in the tower cab was a factor in this accident.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/21/1998
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1253
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City SCOTTSDALE
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85260
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator Yes
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SCOTTSDALE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SDL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 286
Airport Elevation 1510
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1155 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 106
Weather Observation Facility ID SDL
Elevation of weather observation facility 1510
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 40
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
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 Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1938
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 21 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1153
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:53AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N99064 N6342T
NTSB Number LAX99FA036A LAX99FA036B
Missing Aircraft Indicator N N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None None
Flight plan Was Activated? -- --
Damage Destroyed Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna Cessna
Aircraft Model 172P TR182
Aircraft Series Identifier 172P TR182
Aircraft Serial Number 17276399 R18201987
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150 3300
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4 4
Number of Engines 1 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 3 1998 12:00AM May 12 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 54 37
Airframe Hours 6792 2483
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown Unknown
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name WILLIAM J. PETERSON ANDREW CHARLES MATHESON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6322 EAST TURQUOISE AVENUE 2226 EAST TURQUOISE
Aircraft Owner City SCOTTSDALE PHOENIX
Aircraft Owner State AZ AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85253 85028
Operator is an individual? -- --
Operator Name KARL G. GIMBEL
Operator Same as Owner? No Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No Yes
Operator Street Address 14605 NORTH AIRPORT DRIVE
Operator City SCOTTSDALE
Operator State AZ
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 85260
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown 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) Instructional Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes Yes
Departure Airport Code SDL SDL
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1150 1250
Departure Time Zone MST MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo dbo
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21 21
Runway Length 8249 8249
Runway Width 75 75
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --