Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
L. D. W. Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Luna, New Mexico 87824
Sunday, October 3, 2004 10:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane came in from the west and landed on the airstrip. A witness, the owner of the airstrip, said the pilot taxied the airplane to the west end of the airstrip and then took off to the east. The witness said the pilot made a "perfect" takeoff. The witness said that after he could no longer see the airplane he heard what sounded like two shots. He said he thought that "two guys were shooting muzzle loaders" and assumed that the airplane had "scared up some elk for them to shoot at." The witness said he expected the pilot to land at the airstrip when he came back around, but he never returned. The witness said about 30 minutes later he was met by a friend who told him the airplane had gone down. The witness said his wife reported seeing the airplane begin a left banking turn, then seeing "two puffs of smoke" come from the airplane, and hearing "two bangs" before losing sight of the airplane. The airstrip owner, who knew the pilot, said that this was the first time the pilot had landed at that airstrip. He said that when the airplane took off the engine sounded normal. The airstrip owner said that he flew in and out of the airstrip in his Maule. He said that taking off to the east put him in a canyon. He said that it was better to take off to the west through the larger part of the valley. An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies; however, all of the engine spark plugs were noted to be light brown in color, indicative of the engine being operated at a lean fuel-air mixture setting. According to a manufacturer's representative, with the turbocharger installed, the operator must run the engine at the rich mixture setting to get the same performance at higher elevations that the engine would get at sea level. Any leaning at all would produce backfires and loss of performance. The density altitude calculated for the area was 11,246 feet msl. Turbocharger information showed at an altitude of 13,000 feet msl and 76 percent horsepower, the airplane's climb rate was 500 feet per minute.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper use of the mixture control, his failure to maintain clearance from the trees, and his improper preflight planning resulting in his taking off into a canyon and subsequently impacting the trees and terrain. Factors contributing to the accident were the trees, and the high density altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Luna |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87824 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335448N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1090123W |
| Event Location Airport | L. D. W. Ranch |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 80 |
| Airport Elevation | 8335 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1054 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 317 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SJN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5736 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 11246 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18100 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 3 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1209 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5964 |
| NTSB Number | DEN05FA003 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | A185E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1153 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| 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 | Oct 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 119.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 7119.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas Leon Rabourn |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Eager |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85925 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Luna |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Springerville |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2005 12:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 060 |
| Runway Length | 2100 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |