Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Jon, New Mexico 88434
Monday, May 14, 2001 23:22 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying a pressurized airplane at 25,000 feet (cabin altitude of 10,000 feet). For approximately 43 minutes before the accident, ARTCC called the pilot approximately six times and asked him to correct his altitude. Two transmissions from the pilot, between 2305 and 2311, were made with "slurred, and unclear speech." A 2 minute period followed with over 30 hot mike transmissions in which heavy breathing could be heard in some. At 2318:20, the pilot's last transmission was "ah Charlie Hotel, we, we've a little bit of a problem here. We're in a descent, we'll straighten it out in a minute." Witnesses observed the airplane spin into ground. The pilot's autopsy revealed moderate emphysema in his lungs with the presence of air filled bullae measuring up to 3 cm. On the two flights before the accident flight, the owner of the aircraft said that the pilot slept 2 hours out of the 4.5 hours of flight. Several friends of the pilot reported that he was also observed to "easily doze" off while on the ground, but he did so more regularly and for longer time periods while flying.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control due to his incapacitation for an undetermined reason. A contributing factor was the subsequent inadvertent stall/spin to the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/14/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2322 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Jon |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88434 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350513N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1032113W |
| 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 | 2253 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TCC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4065 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5488 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13172 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SW COMMUNICATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 14 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2340 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, NM |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N221CH |
| NTSB Number | DEN01FA098 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | King Air B90 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LJ-436 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9650 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 23 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 65 |
| Airframe Hours | 7557 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CMH Investments, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 1099 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Benton |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72745 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TUS |
| Departure City | Tucson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2103 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ASG |
| Destination City | Springdale |
| Destination State | AR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 25 2003 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | -- |
| Air Medical Flight | -- |
| Medical Flight | -- |