Monument Valley Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Monument Valley, Utah 84536
Saturday, May 11, 2002 12:20 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that he arrived at his destination 2-3 hours after the planned arrival time. At approximately 50 feet above ground level the airplane experienced a significant loss in air speed due to a "sudden wind shift/shear." The aircraft was moved approximately 50 feet to the right and impacted an earth berm. The nose wheel landing gear collapsed aft, and the engine mount, engine firewall, cowling and fuselage were bent.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadvertent stall/mush to the ground during landing flare. Contributing factors were the earth berm along the side of the runway, and the wind shear weather condition on short final.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/11/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1220
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Monument Valley
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84536
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 370055N
Event Location Longitude 1101205W
Event Location Airport Monument Valley Arpt
Event Location Nearest Airport ID UT25
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 5192
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID CEZ
Elevation of weather observation facility 5918
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 75
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 19
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.89
Density Altitude (feet) 7271
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) 12747
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date May 11 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1235
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 4:20PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, UT

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N345M
NTSB Number DEN02LA042
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-140B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-25705
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 25
Airframe Hours 1560
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Ronald V. Delong
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2634 W. Naranja Ave
Aircraft Owner City Mesa
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85202
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CHD
Departure City Chandler
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1017
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code UT25
Destination City Monument Valley
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 10 2002 3:03PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length 85
Runway Width 4100
Sight Seeing flight --
Air Medical Flight --
Medical Flight --