Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
El Paso International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
El Paso, Texas 79925
Thursday, May 15, 2003 17:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While executing a left turn for a crosswind departure, approximately 700-800 feet agl, the 1,104-hour private pilot reported he "lost the left engine," and the pilot attempted to land on the airport taxiway. The airplane impacted the hard surface taxiway in a left wing nose low attitude, came to rest upright, and was partially consumed by a post-impact fire. Prior to departure, the pilot performed an engine run-up and the run-up was normal. One witness reported the takeoff was normal, and the airplane made a left turn for a crosswind departure. During the turn, the left wing came down, then the right, then the left again, and the airplane developed a very high sink rate. Two other witnesses reported the airplane "seemed like it was in trouble...something [was] terribly wrong...the aircraft may have stalled then pitched nose down and then we knew he was coming down." Approximately the time of the accident, the winds were reported 22 knots, gusting to 40 knots, and peak winds from 40 to 44 knots. According to the airplane's performance charts, the calculated airplane's single-engine climb performance was approximately 300 feet per minute. Examination of the airframe and engines did not disclose any structural or mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation. The reason for the reported loss of engine power was not determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons and the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. Contributing factors were the gusty and high wind conditions, and the pilot's failure to compensate for the wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | EL Paso |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79925 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 314814N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1062240W |
| Event Location Airport | El Paso International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ELP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 3958 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1651 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ELP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3958 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 22 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 35 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15681 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2015 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| 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 | N4111T |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA150 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 320-D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 320d0011 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5520 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 73 |
| Airframe Hours | 3703 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Strata Production Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 200 West 1st St Suite 700 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Roswell |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 88201 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ELP |
| Departure City | EL Paso |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1654 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ROW |
| Destination City | Roswell |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - turn to landing area (emergency) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 26 2004 8:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26L |
| Runway Length | 9025 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |