Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mccarran International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Las Vegas, Nevada 89119
Friday, November 30, 2001 15:46 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Three airplanes, an AT-401, an AT-402 and an AT-502 were making a cross-country formation flight. Originally, the AT-401 was the lead airplane, the AT-402 was in the number 2 position, and the AT-502 was the trailing airplane. The AT-401 experienced radio communication problems during the flight. When the AT-401 pilot was unable to establish radio communications with air traffic control at the destination airport, he turned the lead over to the AT-502. The AT-401 pilot thought he was to transition to the number 2 position with the AT-402 taking the trail position. The pilot of the AT-402 thought the AT-401 was to take the trail position after the AT-502 assumed the lead, and he was to remain the number 2 airplane in the formation/landing sequence. According to the AT-401 pilot, the transition from base leg to final approach brought his airplane through the glare of the setting sun, and he concentrated on maintaining his relative position to the lead airplane. He landed behind the AT-502 and taxied off the runway. The AT-402 pilot indicated he landed behind the AT-502, and during the roll out, felt his airplane shudder as the AT-401 impacted his vertical stabilizer/rudder, passed over his airplane and landed on the runway ahead of him.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the AT-401 pilot to maintain clearance with the AT-402 airplane during landing. Contributing factors were the unreliable communication radio in the AT-401, the AT-401 pilot's continued flight with known communication radio problems, and the glare of the sun.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/30/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1546 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Las Vegas |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89119 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 360400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1150914W |
| Event Location Airport | McCarran International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LAS |
| 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 | 2181 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1545 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2181 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2256 |
| 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) | 15541 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 30 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1740 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LAS-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9186J | N139LA |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA034A | LAX02LA034B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | None | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-401B | AT-402A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401 0912 | 402A-1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- | 7000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 10 2001 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- | 9.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Southeastern Aerial Corp Service Inc. | Air Tractor, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2720 Sneed Rd. | P.O. Box 485 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Pierce | Olney |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34945 | 76374 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | -- | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | 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 | -- | 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) | Personal | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ONY | ONY |
| Departure City | Olney | Olney |
| Departure State | TX | TX |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LAS | LAS |
| Destination City | Las Vegas | Las Vegas |
| Destination State | NV | NV |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 16 2004 1:22PM | Mar 16 2004 1:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19R | 19R |
| Runway Length | 9775 | 9770 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |