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 -- --