Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Angel Fire Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Angel Fire, New Mexico 87710
Sunday, February 18, 2001 16:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the airplane approached runway 35, the pilot applied "full cross control" for the crosswind that the airport reported to be from 260 degrees at 20 knots and gusting. Wind gusts were reportedly between 24 and 30 knots. When the airplane touched down 4,500 feet past the threshold, "a strong gust of wind" pushed the airplane to the right side of the runway and the pilot aborted the landing. During the abort, the nose landing gear was damaged when it struck a 24-inch high snow bank at the 5,900-foot mark. Witnesses said the airplane nearly "cartwheeled." The pilot turned the airplane around and landed on runway 17. The airplane touched down at the 6,150-foot mark and skidded on its nose to a halt at the 7,100-foot mark (8,900 foot runway). The airplane's demonstrated crosswind component is 17 knots. The computed crosswind component was 90 degrees at 20 knots, 24 knots, or 30 knots, depending on the reported wind velocity used.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing. Contributing factors were the crosswind, the pilot exceeding the published maximum demonstrated crosswind component, and the snow bank.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/18/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Angel Fire |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87710 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Angel Fire |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AXX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 8380 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 265 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SKX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8380 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 9363 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10229 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA, ALBUQUERQUE FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 19 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3051U |
| NTSB Number | DEN01LA054 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7940063 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 160 |
| Airframe Hours | 3600 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William G. Pierson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hunt |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78024 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | COS |
| Departure City | Colo. Springs |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | AXX |
| Destination City | Angel Fire |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 9 2001 1:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | 8900 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |