Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Las Cruces International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Las Cruces, New Mexico 88001
Wednesday, June 9, 2004 21:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff, the low voltage light illuminated and the pilot elected to return to land. The pilot transmitted on the Unicom frequency that he was "turning base to final for runway 26" when in fact he was turning base to final for runway 22. The pilot of another airplane heard this report and elected to take off on runway 22. The pilot of the accident airplane sighted the other aircraft on the runway and elected to make a 360-degree turn for spacing purposes. During the turn, the airplane struck large mesquite bushes and was destroyed when it collided with terrain. Prior to the flight, the pilot performed three takeoffs and landings to a full stop to renew his night flight currency for the carriage of passengers. His last night flight was on September 1, 2003. According to the pilot, he had flown 6.9 hours on the day of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain and the improper go-around procedure. Contributing factors include the pilot's diverted attention, improper in-flight planning and decision making, pilot fatigue, the night conditions and the mesquite bushes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2110 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Las Cruces |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88001 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 321724N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1065518W |
| Event Location Airport | LAS CRUCES INTERNATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LRU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 40 |
| Airport Elevation | 4456 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2129 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LRU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4456 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6858 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16266 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 30 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque FAA FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9474L |
| NTSB Number | DEN04TA088 |
| 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 | C172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17276560 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Apr 23 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2758.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Civil Air Patrol |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 105 South Hansell Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Maxwell AFB |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36112 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LRU |
| Departure City | Las Cruces |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2100 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ABQ |
| Destination City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 16 2004 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 7499 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |