Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Tucson International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tucson, Arizona 85734
Thursday, July 18, 2002 9:49 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On short final approach between 50 and 75 feet above the ground, the pilot encountered wake turbulence from a MD80, which had just landed. During the wake turbulence encounter, the accident airplane suddenly rolled into a near vertical left bank, control was lost, and it crashed about 340 feet from the runway. While in the traffic pattern, the pilot had observed the approaching MD80. Air traffic control personnel advised the pilot that the local wind was from 060 degrees, at 7 knots, and the controller twice cautioned the pilot regarding wake turbulence. At 0947:24, the MD80 was about 1 mile from landing on a visual approach to runway 11L and it landed at 0948:29 . The accident pilot crashed at 0949:28, approaching parallel runway 11R. Tucson International Airport operations personnel reported that the impact site was about 340 feet short of the runway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control resulting from his improperly planned approach and an inadvertent encounter with wake turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/18/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 949 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Tucson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85734 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 320658N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1105628W |
| Event Location Airport | Tucson International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TUS |
| 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 | 2643 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| 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) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15911 |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 18 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1014 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2004 7:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-SDL |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N48RV |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA230 |
| 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 | Violet |
| Aircraft Model | Dragonfly |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 161 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1250 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 13 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 938 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mark D. Snow |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carlsbad |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 88220 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Felix J. Boston |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Danville |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94526 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | T27 |
| Departure City | EL PASO |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TUS |
| Destination City | Tucson |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 17 2004 6:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11R |
| Runway Length | 8408 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |