Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tatum, New Mexico 88267
Monday, July 1, 2002 13:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness reported hearing the distinctive sound of a radial engine just before the crash, and right after that a loud crashing noise. The witness observed a large cloud of dust forming, subsequently saw the plane parts scattering from west to east across the pasture, and then observed the fuselage come to rest. A second witness saw the airplane hit the ground and a cloud of dust form about one-quarter of a mile long and as high as a highline wire. The witness said that after the dust settled he saw scattered plane parts, a highline wire down, and a wing part spilling fuel. The witness also stated that the airplane was traveling from west to east and looked horizontal at impact At 12:59:57, approximately 10 minutes prior to the time of the accident, air traffic control radar identified a target 8 nautical miles northwest of the accident site at an altitude of 5,500 feet mean sea level (MSL). However, this target could not be positively identified as the accident airplane. A postmortem examination of the pilot by a Medical Investigator reported significant natural disease findings included coronary atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of the arteries), and chronic thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland). Both of these diseases can cause sudden cardiac problems including an arrhythmia or heart attack.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to maintain clearance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/1/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tatum |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88267 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332629N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1033616W |
| 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 | 1250 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HOB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3661 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 57 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6533 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 14425 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 1 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N835K |
| NTSB Number | FTW02FA195 |
| 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 | H-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | BA-724 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10000 |
| 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 | 9 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 23 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 200 |
| Airframe Hours | 6466 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James Ratliff Hurt |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Odessa |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70763 |
| 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 | SKX |
| Departure City | Taos |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ODO |
| Destination City | Odessa |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2003 2:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |