Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lea County Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hobbs, New Mexico 88241
Monday, February 4, 2002 19:07 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
At the conclusion of a dark night IMC cross-country flight, the pilot was being vectored onto the ILS approach. After stabilizing, the approach "was normal." At decision altitude, the pilot indicated that he could see the approach lights and the runway, but was not in a position to land so he executed a missed approach. After being vectored around for another approach, he stated that he was on the localizer but was "high" on the glide slope. After giving "a little" nose down pitch, he became distracted when the auto-pilot became "accidentally disengaged." The pilot stated that he "inadvertently descended through the glide slope and impacted the ground short of the runway." He further stated that the "first indication" that he was low was when the aircraft "struck the ground." The aircraft was destroyed on impact. A facility check conducted by the FAA of the ILS found all parameters within normal specifications.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain the proper glidepath during the instrument approach. Contributing factors were the dark night light conditions and the pilot's diverted attention.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/4/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1907 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hobbs |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88241 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324115N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1031301W |
| Event Location Airport | Lea County Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HOB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 220 |
| Airport Elevation | 3661 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1907 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HOB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3661 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17951 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 5 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 739 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N794CA |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA076 |
| 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-31T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31T-8120018 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9050 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 15 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100 |
| Airframe Hours | 4900 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert D. Calhoon |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 500 East Zia Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hobbs |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 88240 |
| 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 | LAS |
| Departure City | Las Vegas |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HOB |
| Destination City | Hobbs |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker to threshold (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 27 2005 5:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |