Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
Sunday, September 15, 2002 13:12 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
When they were 20 miles west of the airport, the pilot of a Piper PA-24 began making radio calls on Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF). The pilot reported his position, announced his intentions to land on runway 21, and requested traffic advisories. He heard no response. He made traffic pattern position calls on entering the pattern, on downwind, on base leg, and on final. The pilot said that over the approach end of runway 21 with the wheels just about to touchdown, his wife shouted on the intercom "look at that plane" and threw her arm across the pilot to point at what was at their 8 o'clock position. The pilot said he saw an airplane, a Beech 1900 on runway 27 at a fast roll approaching the runway 21/27 intersection. The pilot said he judged that the two airplanes would meet at the intersection. The pilot applied power to the engine, pulled the nose up into a landing attitude, and veered left so as to pass behind the airplane. "Seconds later we struck the ground in a tail low attitude just past RW27 and to the left of RW21." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The captain of the Beech said Air Route Traffic Control Center had cleared them for a visual approach to the airport. They briefed the approach for runway 27. They monitored Airport Weather Observing System and made an "in range" call to their station on the ground. The captain said at 20 to 25 miles out, he made a radio call on the CTAF and requested traffic advisories. He said he made advisory calls at 15, 10, and 5 miles from the airport and on short final for runway 27. On short final and approximately 200 feet above ground level, the captain said they received a Terrain Clearance Avoidance System traffic advisory showing "+300 feet," but then it disappeared. The captain said they touched down, rolled out and taxied to the gate. The captain said he heard no other traffic on the CTAF. Witnesses on the ground monitoring the CTAF, said they heard the Piper call inbound for runway 21 and then call three or four more times. An examination of the Piper showed the airplane's radio set to the CTAF. An examination of the radios on the Beech showed no anomalies. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot of the Piper and the flight crew of the Beech's failure to attain proper clearance from each other during their respective landings and the intentional evasive maneuver by the pilot to avoid the other airplane. Factors contributing to the accident were inadequate visual lookout by the pilot and the crew of the other airplane and the inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/15/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1312 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rock Springs |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82901 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413524N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1090333W |
| Event Location Airport | Rock Springs-Sweetwater County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RKS |
| 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 | 6760 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RKS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6760 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.33 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 9038 |
| 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 | 16 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13320 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 15 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1545 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 9 2004 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8822P | N240GL |
| NTSB Number | DEN02FA105A | DEN02FA105B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-260 | 1900D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-4278 | UE-240 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 | 17120 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 | 21 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 2 2001 12:00AM | Sep 14 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 136 | 3.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 2101 | 955.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John R. Ipson, Joan H. Ipson Trustees | Great Lakes Aviation, Limited |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8903 S. Green Meadows Drive | 1022 Airport Parkway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Highlands Ranch | Cheyenne |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80126 | 82001 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | John R. Ipson | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | -- | -- |
| Operator State | -- | -- |
| Operator Country | -- | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | GLBA |
| 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 | -- | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RNO | DEN |
| Departure City | Reno | Denver |
| Departure State | NV | CO |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 907 | 1155 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RKS | RKS |
| Destination City | Rock Springs | Rock Springs |
| Destination State | WY | WY |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - aborted | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 2:38PM | Apr 1 2003 2:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 5223 | 10000 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |