Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ashton, Idaho 83445
Wednesday, July 12, 2000 20:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The unlicensed 'pilot' of the Cessna 150 made a low pass over an open-air assembly of campers in order to drop a message to a family member who was part of the group below. Because the sun was in the process of setting, the tops of hills around the camp were illuminated with a golden glow. But the valley in which the camp was situated, including a coniferous tree located about 280 feet south of the camp, was sitting in the shadow created by a ridge to the west. Just after the note was dropped over the camp, the inboard portion of the aircraft's left wing collided with the top ten feet of the tree. The aircraft then spun/cartwheeled through the air for another 88 feet before impacting the surface of the gravel road. Upon impacting the road, the aircraft burst into flames and slid another 122 feet. During the 'pilot's' FAA physical in 1995, it was determined that he was blind in his left eye.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a tree while making a low pass over an outdoor gathering of individuals. Factors include the intentional low pass, a tree located in a shadow generated by the sun's low position at dusk, hilly terrain, and the 'pilot's' visual deficiency.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2040 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | ASHTON |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83445 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 992 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2003 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6196T |
| NTSB Number | SEA00FA133 |
| 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 | 150E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15060896 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Jul 19 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICK P. NICKELL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2527 E 400 N |
| Aircraft Owner City | ST. ANTHONY |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83445 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | U12 |
| Departure City | ST. ANTHONY |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2025 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2001 4:09AM |
| 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 | -- |