Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Avi Suquilla Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Parker, Arizona 85344
Saturday, January 11, 2003 16:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A Cessna 182 and a Grumman F6F-5 collided in flight on the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern for runway 19. The Cessna was departing on runway 19 with a left climbing turnout northbound, and the Grumman F6F-5 warbird was returning to land and had entered the airport traffic area from the north. The collision occurred about midfield on the left downwind leg for runway 19 when the Grumman overtook the climbing Cessna. The Grumman pilot was monitoring the Unicom frequency and reported several miles from the airport inbound for the overhead approach to runway 19. He overheard other aircraft in the pattern and decided to follow an F-86 warbird that was turning base to final for an overhead approach. He flew over the runway centerline about 600 feet above ground level. Near the departure end of the runway he looked left to see if there was any traffic on the downwind leg. No traffic was observed so he announced that he was in the left break for downwind and turned left to the downwind leg and climbed to the pattern altitude. At pattern altitude he was abeam the departure end of the runway. He located his reported traffic in the pattern; one was on final, one on base, and the F-86 was on his right on a wide downwind and ahead of him. He chose to follow the F-86. About midfield, while straight and level on the downwind leg, the pilot started the Before Landing Check List. During that procedure he checked his position relative to the runway. At that instant, another aircraft came into view from below and ahead of him and the collision occurred. He transmitted the collision information and subsequently landed with substantial damage to the left wing. The left wing of the Grumman impacted at the base of the rudder and vertical stabilizer of the Cessna, thus severing it from the airplane. The uncontrolled airport was sponsoring an Air Expo, which consisted of static and aerial formation flights, flybys, and parachuting events. The airport routinely provides an aeronautical advisory station (CTAF) on 122.725 MHz, and provides wind and preferred runway information. The CTAF operator at the airport did not recall hearing the Cessna on frequency. Visual examination of the Cessna's two damaged communication radios with only 25 kc frequency spacing revealed the top radio was selected to 122.7, and the other was 121.902 MHz. The Grumman airplane had one with 25 kc frequency spacing; however, the pilot was using a handheld VHF radio for transmissions on 75 kc spacing for the airport's CTAF frequency, 122.725.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of both pilot's to see and avoid one another while maneuvering in the traffic pattern. A factor in the accident was the inability of the Cessna pilot to communicate on the CTAF frequency due to the limitations of his radios.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/11/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Parker |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85344 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340839N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1141504W |
| Event Location Airport | Avi Suquilla Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | P20 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 452 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1556 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EED |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 983 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 41 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 951 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18485 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 11 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1705 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8567S | N4994V |
| NTSB Number | LAX03FA066A | LAX03FA066B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Destroyed | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna | Grumman |
| Aircraft Model | 182H | F6F-5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18256667 | 93879 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 | 12480 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2002 12:00AM | Mar 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3362 | 2075 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | George Klein | Planes of Fame |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File | WWII Cal Aero Field |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wellton | Chino |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85356 | 91710 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Robert L. Hatch | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | On File | -- |
| Operator City | Yuma | -- |
| Operator State | AZ | -- |
| Operator Country | USA | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 85365 | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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 | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | P20 | P20 |
| Departure City | Parker | Parker |
| Departure State | AZ | -- |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1555 | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | HII | P20 |
| Destination City | Lake Havasu | -- |
| Destination State | AZ | -- |
| Destination Country | USA | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise | Approach - VFR pattern - downwind |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 2 2005 4:10PM | Aug 2 2005 4:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 | 19 |
| Runway Length | 4780 | 4780 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |