Grand Canyon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
Friday, April 13, 1990 14:58 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE ACFT WAS ABOUT TO TOUCHDOWN FROM A NORMAL APCH TO RWY 21, WHEN IT ENCOUNTERED VARIALBLE WIND CONDS & BALLOONED TO ABOUT 70' AGL. THE PLT INITIATED A GO-AROUND. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, WITNESSES OBSERVED A PUFF OF SMOKE EMANATE FROM THE ACFT, THEN THE PLT TRANSMITTED THAT THE FLT WAS 'GOING DOWN.' SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES ON WOODED TERRAIN ABOUT 1/2 MI FROM THE DEP END OF THE RWY. AN EXAM REVEALED A LACK OF POWER SIGNATURES ON THE PROP; EVIDENCE OF SOOTING WAS FOUND ON THE SPARK PLUGS (INDICATING A RICH MIXTURE). TESTING OF THE TURBO-CONTROLLER REVEALED EVIDENCE THAT IT HAD BEEN ADJUSTED TO A LOW SETTING; THE TURBO WOULD ONLY PRODUCE A MAXIMUM AIR FLOW EQUAL TO HIGH CRUISE POWER. THE ENG MANUFACTURER RPRTD THAT THIS SITUATION COULD PRODUCE AN OVER-RICH MIXTURE, PARTICULARILY IF THE THROTTLE AND/OR MIXTURE CONTROLS WERE IMPROPPERLY MANIPULATED. THE PILOT LACKED EXPERIENCE IN ACFT WITH TURBO-CHARGED ENGS & HE WAS NOT TRAINED IAW THE COMPANY TRAINING PROGRAM.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

IMPROPER ADJUSTMENT OF THE TURBO-CHARGER ABSOLUTE PRESSURE CONTROLLER, AND IMPROPER MANIPULATION OF THE POWER PLANT CONTROLS BY THE PILOT DURING THE GO-AROUND. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: FAILURE OF COMPANY MANAGEMENT TO PROPERLY TRAIN THE PILOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE APPROVED COMPANY TRAINING PROGRAM, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN TURBO-CHARGED ENGINE OPERATIONS.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/13/1990
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1458
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City GRAND CANYON
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 86023
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport GRAND CANYON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GCN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 6606
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1500 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID GCN
Elevation of weather observation facility 6606
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 8900
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 7
Injury Total All 7
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1741
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 43463
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 4:54PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N91081
NTSB Number LAX90FA145
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model T207
Aircraft Series Identifier T207
Aircraft Serial Number 20700062
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Mar 31 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 5325
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CHARLES B. BEAGLE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1 WINDROCK LANE
Aircraft Owner City CHINO VALLEY
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 86323
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name WINDROCK AVIATION
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 WWNA
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 Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code GCN
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code GCN
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 8999
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --