Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Heber City, Utah 84032
Monday, January 2, 2006 12:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated commercial pilot was making a cross-country flight in the airplane over mountainous terrain. During a pre-flight weather briefing and during two in-flight weather updates, the pilot was advised by flight service station weather briefers that VFR flight was not recommended along his route of flight. The flight was receiving VFR flight following services, and the air traffic controllers working the flight also twice advised the pilot of deteriorating weather conditions ahead along his route of flight. The pilot responded that if necessary, he would turn around. Radar and radio contact with the airplane were subsequently lost due to the mountainous terrain. Two witnesses located at different points along the intended route of flight observed the airplane flying southbound at an altitude of about 300 feet agl. The first witness, located about 16 miles north of the accident site, reported that the ceiling was about 500 feet, and there was light snow and sleet falling. The second witness, located about 4 miles north of the accident site, reported that "it was snowing hard and there was little visibility." According to local law enforcement personnel, at the time of the accident, the weather conditions in the vicinity of the accident site were "extreme" with visibility "less than 500 feet with heavy snow." Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in a right wing low attitude heading northbound, suggesting that the pilot may have been executing a 180 degree turn in an attempt to exit the weather conditions when the impact occurred. Inspection of the engine did not reveal any abnormalities that would have prevented normal operation and production of rated horsepower. Damage to the propeller was consistent with the engine producing power at impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued VFR flight into IMC and his subsequent failure to maintain terrain clearance while maneuvering resulting in an in-flight collision with terrain. Contributing factors were low ceilings, snow, and mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/2/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Heber City |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84032 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403937N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1112728W |
| 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 | 1155 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 36U |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5637 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.83 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 20684 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 2 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2006 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake CIty, UT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1254Z |
| NTSB Number | SEA06FA036 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 35-A33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CD-328 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84 |
| Airframe Hours | 3907 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas M. Harmon |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2347 River View Ln |
| Aircraft Owner City | Laurel |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59044 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | BIL |
| Departure City | Billings |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | U77 |
| Destination City | Spanish Fork |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2006 5:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |