Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elko, Nevada 89801
Tuesady, August 23, 2005 14:12 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted terrain when it encountered tailwind and downdraft conditions during a fire retardant delivery flight over a ridgeline. According to the pilot, he flew the airplane over the drop site between 95 and 100 miles per hour (mph), about 60 feet above the terrain, and with 30 degrees of flaps extended. After dropping the retardant, he applied full power and retracted the flaps to 10 degrees with normal engine indications. The airplane would not climb without losing airspeed and the pilot realized he would not be able to clear the ridgeline in his flight path. He slowed the airplane as much as possible before the airplane collided with terrain. The weather observation at a nearby airport and reports from ground personnel close to the site indicated high and gusty wind conditions with velocities as high as 40 knots existed at the time of the accident, and would have resulted in a tailwind condition for the airplane as it made the retardant drop.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to adequately plan for the wind direction and speed during a fire retardant delivery flight, which led to a loss of true airspeed, failure to attain a proper climb rate, and the in-flight collision with mountainous terrain. Contributing factors were the high, gusty, tailwind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1412 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Elko |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89801 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410112N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1154518W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EKO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5140 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 33 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20986 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2007 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Reno, NV FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7077N |
| NTSB Number | LAX05TA277 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WSK PZL |
| Aircraft Model | Mielec M-18A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1Z023-03 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11700 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 56.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 4410.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Airwork Enterprises of Florida, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 5100 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Immokalee |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34143 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Bureau of Land Management |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Boise |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | EKO |
| Departure City | Elko |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1403 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | EKO |
| Destination City | Elko |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 27 2006 3:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |