Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alamogordo, New Mexico 88310
Monday, May 15, 2000 12:33 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Four minutes after takeoff, the airplane was observed flying straight towards rising terrain (other pilots reported that there had been uplifting air movement there the previous several days). Radar data indicates that the airplane leveled off, and began to slow down. The airplane changed direction and flew over the edge of a 1,000 foot canyon; it then turned north towards rising terrain a second time. A witness said that he couldn't hear any engine sound; he observed the airplane spin towards the ground. He then heard an impact sound, and saw smoke. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in a vertical attitude. The airplane was found with the rear propeller feathered, and the front propeller with no signatures of power. The rear engine fuel selector was found between main and off, and the front engine fuel selector was found on auxiliary. Normal procedure is to fly for an hour after takeoff on the main tanks. Pilots on later flights in this area reported "strong turbulence and very strong variable vertical air movements." The FAA recommends that a mountain ridgeline should be crossed at an angle to allow the pilot to turn away from the ridge with the least amount of turn required should down air be encountered.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control, and the subsequent inadvertent stall/spin. Contributing factors were the loss of engine power on both engines for unknown reasons and the terrain induced turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/15/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1233 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | ALAMOGORDO |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88310 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1229 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4197 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 93 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 45 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 9858 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10853 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SOUTHWEST OPS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 15 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1544 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 1 2001 7:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2522S |
| NTSB Number | DEN00GA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | T337C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | T337C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 337-0822 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4500 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 10 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 3675 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SKYSTAR INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 1196 |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLUMBIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95310 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ALM |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1229 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2001 10:40AM |
| 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 | -- |