Mexican Mountain Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Green River, Utah 84515
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 19:05 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, the airplane was departing to the west. The pilot stated that he had "failed to leave enough [room] to get proper airspeed" to clear the brush at the west end of the runway. The airplane impacted the brush. During the impact, the right wing separated from the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

pilot's improper preflight planning and failure to maintain obstacle clearance. Contributing factors include improper short field takeoff procedures and the high vegetation at the end of the runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/18/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1905
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Green River
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84515
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 390113N
Event Location Longitude 1102704W
Event Location Airport Mexican Mountain
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 4450
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2053 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 339
Weather Observation Facility ID PUC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5953
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 39
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) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
Density Altitude (feet) 5985
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 4
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14716
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Jun 18 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2315
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 5 2004 4:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, Utah

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2537R
NTSB Number DEN03LA108
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA 28-180
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-5644
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 16 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 210
Airframe Hours 5235
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Cherokee Springs, DEU Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO Box 428
Aircraft Owner City Hatch
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84735
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name George Gautier
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address On File
Operator City Truckee
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 96161
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 PVT
Departure City Mexican Mountai
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1855
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code RIF
Destination City RICHFIELD
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 18 2003 12:09PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 1300
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --