Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Four Corners Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Farmington, New Mexico 87401
Saturday, September 6, 2003 8:01 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was preparing to land on runway 07. He said he did not pull the carburetor heat on until after the turn to final. At that point, the engine "suffered a loss of power" but, it did not "miss or sputter." As the airplane descended below runway elevation, he attempted to land in the only available clear area. The airplane impacted the terrain and nosed over, separating the engine and substantially damaging the empennage. According to carburetor icing charts, the weather conditions were conducive for "serious" carburetor icing at any power setting.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper procedures/directives, and the delayed activation of carburetor heat which resulted in the loss of engine power and subsequent impact with terrain. Contributing factors include the carburetor icing conditions, and the rough/uneven and drop-off/descending terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/6/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 801 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Farmington |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87401 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364428N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1081347W |
| Event Location Airport | Four Corners Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FMN |
| 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 | 5506 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 816 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FMN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5506 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.22 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6642 |
| 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) | 14724 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 6 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 915 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 3:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N60571 |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA149 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15070413 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 68.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 4000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Arnold & Platt |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 825 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Aztec |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87410 |
| 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 | Q19 |
| Departure City | Aztec |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 740 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FMN |
| Destination City | Farmington |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - base leg/base to final |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 18 2003 12:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 07 |
| Runway Length | 6704 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |