Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grants, New Mexico 87020
Sunday, March 14, 1993 22:34 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE WAS IN CRUISE FLIGHT ALONG AN AIRWAY, WITH A MINIMUM EN ROUTE ALTITUDE OF 13,300 FEET, WHEN IT IMPACTED TERRAIN AT AN ELEVATION OF 10,600 FEET. IMPACT OCCURRED ON A SNOW COVERED MOUNTAIN CRESTING AT 11,301 FEET. DARK NIGHT CONDITIONS EXISTED AND THE PILOT HAD JUST ACTIVATED A VFR FLIGHT PLAN. CARGO INCLUDED COBALT 60, A RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL. SUPPLEMENTAL OXYGEN WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE PILOT OR THE PASSENGERS. RECORDED RADAR DATA INDICATED THAT THE AIRPLANE GROUND TRACK WAS CONSISTENT WITH THE MEASURED GROUND SCAR HEADING OF APPROXIMATELY 272 DEGREES. TREE/TERRAIN IMPACT OCCURRED IN A LEVEL FLIGHT ATTITUDE. WEIGHT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 5,718 POUNDS; MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT WAS 5,400 POUNDS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION AND THE SELECTION OF AN ALTITUDE THAT WOULD NOT PROVIDE TERRAIN CLEARANCE ALONG HIS PLANNED ROUTE. FACTORS WERE THE DARK NIGHT CONDITIONS AND THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/14/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2234 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | GRANTS |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87020 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2115 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 93 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5350 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 53 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 60 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1351 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4320W |
| NTSB Number | FTW93FA103 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | 58 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 58 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TH-468 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 16 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 5921 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GUINN, ALBERT J. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6821 PICADILLY |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOUSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77061 |
| 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 | GUGA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ABQ |
| Departure City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2215 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OAK |
| Destination City | OAKLAND |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |