Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
Thursday, August 9, 2001 13:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane had just taken off and was climbing through 9,000 feet when the pilot heard "a very loud explosive sound" that came from the right side of the aircraft. He returned to the airport and landed. When the airplane touched down, it began veered to the right and the pilot attempted to correct. The airplane departed the right side of the runway and the right main landing gear collapsed, driving it through the top of the wing. Half of the right main tire (30 hours total time in service) and most of its inner tube (with a round section blown out) were found at the point of touch down. Missing was the valve stem. Continuous S-shaped marks indicated the tire came off the rim.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the right main tire blowing out in flight, which resulted in a loss of directional control during landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/9/2001
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Rock Springs
Event State WYOMING
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 82901
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Rock Springs-Sweetwater County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID RKS
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 6760
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1354 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID RKS
Elevation of weather observation facility 6760
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
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) 30.26
Density Altitude (feet) 9092
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10876
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Aug 8 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1450
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2001 7:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Casper, Wyoming

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N44JH
NTSB Number DEN01LA142
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-60-602P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 62P-09028165031
Certified Max Gross Weight 6315
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 27 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 2998
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aircraft Guaranty 101, LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 515 N. Sam Houston Pky., Suite 305
Aircraft Owner City Houston
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77060
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Roeder-Johnson Corp.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 655 Skyway, Suite 130
Operator City San Carlos
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 94070
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code RKS
Departure City Rock Springs
Departure State WY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1325
Departure Time Zone TO
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MYV
Destination City Marysville
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 10 2001 11:16AM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 09
Runway Length 10000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --