Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
Thursday, January 30, 2003 9:56 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had encountered moderate rime icing at 13,000 feet msl. After considering the extent of the weather, the pilot elected to land at an intermediate airport. ARTCC cleared the pilot for an ILS approach for landing. The pilot reported breaking out of the weather and having trouble identifying the airport. The air traffic control center controller advised the pilot that the airport was at 11 o'clock at 12 miles. The pilot said he had "let his altitude slip," that he was coming around a big peak, and that he was "going to go around that." Less than a minute later, radio and radar contact with the airplane was lost. At the last known position, the airplane was 14.49 nautical miles on a bearing of 097 degrees from the airport, at an altitude of 8,000 feet mean sea level (msl). The air traffic control center issued an Alert Notification and search and rescue was initiated. The airplane was located 7 hours later. The airplane had impacted the terrain in a 40-degree nose-low attitude and was destroyed in a subsequent post crash explosion and fire. An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies. At the time of accident, the routine aviation weather report at the airport was 3,900 feet overcast skies, 10 miles visibility, temperature 41 degrees Fahrenheit (F), dew point 25 degrees F, winds 250 degrees at 22 knots, gusts to 26 knots, and altimeter 30.09 inches of Mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, resulting in a stall. Factors contributing to the accident were the icing conditions, low altitude, and the high gusting winds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/30/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 956 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Rock Springs |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82901 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 413332N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1084620W |
| Event Location Airport | Rock Springs-Sweetwater County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RKS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 14.6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 97 |
| Airport Elevation | 6760 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 277 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RKS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6760 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 22 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 26 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7006 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13956 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 30 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1812 |
| 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 | Casper, Wyoming FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N935V |
| NTSB Number | DEN03FA040 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | V35B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D9677 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2380.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gerald A. Burger |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6898 Casper Mountain Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Casper |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82601 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CPR |
| Departure City | Casper |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 829 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MYF |
| Destination City | San Diego |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2003 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 10000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |