West Texas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

El Paso, Texas 79927
Saturday, July 13, 2002 15:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While attempting to land, the pilot saw a dust devil approximately 50 to 100 feet directly in front of him over the runway. Being too low to turn, he applied full power and attempted to fly through the dust devil. When the airplane pitched up and went into a left climbing turn, he applied full right aileron and rudder in an attempt to control the airplane. Witnesses observed the airplane pitch up and make a 270 degree left turn. The airplane became inverted and impacted the ground on its nose, bounced, and came to rest on its main landing gear.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of control due to the encounter with the dust devil.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/13/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City El Paso
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79927
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 314311N
Event Location Longitude 1061421W
Event Location Airport West Texas
Event Location Nearest Airport ID T27
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 4007
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 10000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 38
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 10
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 12403
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 13 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2030
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 4 2002 9:07AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albuquerque, New Mexico

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7791V
NTSB Number FTW02CA206
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 Aero Commander
Aircraft Model Callair A-9B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1544
Certified Max Gross Weight 3000
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name El Paso Soaring Society
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1345 Air Coup
Aircraft Owner City El Paso
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 79927
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code T27
Departure City El Paso
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1510
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Sep 24 2002 4:45PM
User who most recently changed record SNYG
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8
Runway Length 7505
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --