Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cottonwood, Idaho 83522
Tuesady, July 10, 2001 11:14 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane, loaded with approximately 450 gallons of fire retardant, was directed to work the fire's east flank. A witness on the ground stated the airplane approached from the southwest, near the top of the canyon. He reported that initially he didn't see the airplane, but could only hear it flying down the east flank of the fire. Shortly thereafter, he reported seeing a "big ball of fire" and thought the pilot must have hit something. A second witness reported seeing the accident airplane approach the fire from the south. He stated that as the airplane approached the fire, the pilot reported that "...it was [too smoky] and he was going around to try again." Shortly thereafter, ground crews reported that the airplane had crashed. Post accident evaluation of the aircraft wreckage revealed no evidence of a pre-impact failure or malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure to maintain adequate clearance from terrain while dropping fire retardant. Factors include low visibility with smoke.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1114 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cottonwood |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83522 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 12371 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-REGIONAL OPERATIONS |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 10 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 3:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Spokane, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4947X |
| NTSB Number | SEA01FA127 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Rockwell |
| Aircraft Model | S-2R-1200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5008R |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 21 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 269 |
| Airframe Hours | 8997 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stanley and Margo Bybee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Nyssa |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97913 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Craigmont Air Service, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 280 |
| Operator City | Craigmont |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 83523 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S89 |
| Departure City | CRAIGMONT |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 31 2002 7:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |