Luna Landing Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Deming, New Mexico 88031
Monday, September 2, 2002 10:31 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane departed from a 2,600-foot long airstrip normally used by local agricultural aircraft. The airplane cleared the airstrip perimeter fence, power lines, and tall trees at the departure end when the engine lost power. Subsequently, the airplane impacted the ground in a nose low attitude and came to rest in the inverted position among tall sage brush. The pilot reported that the engine lost power due to carburetor ice.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to carburetor ice as a result of the pilot's failure to apply carburetor heat. A contributing factor was the weather conducive to carburetor icing conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/2/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1031
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City DEMING
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 88031
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 320500N
Event Location Longitude 1073900W
Event Location Airport Luna Landing Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NM26
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 4250
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 953 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 214
Weather Observation Facility ID KDMN
Elevation of weather observation facility 4314
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.13
Density Altitude (feet) 6438
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 1
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13996
NTSB Notification Source FAA, Fort Worth, TX
NTSB Notification Date Sep 3 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
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 N8351G
NTSB Number FTW02LA248
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 150F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15062451
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5358
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JAMES H. JAMES
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 43
Aircraft Owner City ORGAN
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 88052
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 43
Operator City ORGAN
Operator State NM
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 88052
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code NM26
Departure City DEMING
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1031
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 Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 31 2003 5:12PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 2600
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --