Taos Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Taos, New Mexico 87529
Sunday, September 7, 2003 10:15 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, after completing a "wheel landing" on runway 04, the airplane began to "fishtail." As he applied rudder control, the airplane's right wing dipped and the right main landing gear departed the right side of the runway. When he applied go-around power, the airplane departed the right side of the runway, and struck a ditch.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing roll which resulted in the subsequent ground loop/swerve and impact with the ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/7/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1015
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Taos
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87529
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 362729N
Event Location Longitude 1054020W
Event Location Airport Taos Regional
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SKX
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 7091
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1015 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KSKX
Elevation of weather observation facility 7091
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 90
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 13
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.21
Density Altitude (feet) 8372
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14725
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Sep 7 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 3:55PM
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 N455RT
NTSB Number DEN03LA151
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 Waco
Aircraft Model YMF-5
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0018
Certified Max Gross Weight 2750
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 Jul 1 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 311
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Ret Butler Communications Corp.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3930 N Pine Grove Ave #3001
Aircraft Owner City Chicago
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60613
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 SAF
Departure City Santa Fe
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SKX
Destination City Taos
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 18 2003 12:00PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 04
Runway Length 5798
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --