Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

American Fork, Utah 84003
Monday, January 28, 2002 8:47 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot told the lineman he was preparing to depart since he had to get back to work. The lineman thought "nobody in their right mind would try flying at that time [since] there was a winter storm moving through the area." It was as though they were '"in the eye of a hurricane,'" and be couldn't believe the pilot would try taking off in the storm. The pilot said he was going to "scud run" to his intended destination, about 103 miles to the south, but would turn around if he couldn't make it. The lineman said, "I couldn't believe what he was telling me. I told him that every year, we get two or three airplanes trying to scud run, and they run into the mountains." The pilot told him that he was instrument rated, but was not current. The lineman showed the pilot computer radar images depicting large buildups throughout the area. As the pilot prepared to depart, another lineman brushed frost off the wings. The pilot took off before all the frost could be removed and disappeared into clouds a mile south of the airport. The wreckage was located the following day in a canyon. Radar data showed the airplane tracking along an interstate highway before turning left and entering the canyon. As it went further east into the canyon, it made four consecutive climbing left turns before radar contact was lost.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's poor judgment in that he intentionally initiated VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing factors were low ceiling and obscuration, and the pilot's lack of recent instrument time.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/28/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 847
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City American Fork
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84003
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 402758N
Event Location Longitude 1114313W
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 Partial - limited by pilot
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 835 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 165
Weather Observation Facility ID PVU
Elevation of weather observation facility 4497
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1200
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.71
Density Altitude (feet) 4147
Intensity of Precipitation Moderate
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) 12059
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Jan 28 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1725
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2002 9:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, Utah

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1176T
NTSB Number DEN02LA023
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model V35B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number D-9921
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Alan N. Timmerman
Aircraft Owner Street Address 437-E Lake Dr.
Aircraft Owner City Warrenton
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97146
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code U42
Departure City West Jordan
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 800
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DTA
Destination City Delta
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2002 4:43PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --