Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Alamogordo-White Sands Regiona Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alamogordo, New Mexico 88310
Wednesday, November 8, 2006 12:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness to the accident said the airplane touched down on runway 21, then suddenly veered to the right. It went off the runway, crossed the median and parallel taxiway, across the parking ramp, and collided with a hangar "at a high rate of speed." A sign, a pickup truck parked outside, and an airplane inside the hangar were also damaged. After the collision, the rear engine continued to run at full power. The witness drove to the accident site and tried to gain access to the cockpit from outside the airplane in an attempt to shut the engine down. When this failed, he went inside the hangar, and tried to reach inside the cockpit. The engine quit running shortly thereafter. Another witness said he heard the airplane's engines running at "full throttle" and saw the airplane "hopping and fishtailing" across the ground. When he arrived at the accident site, the rear propeller was striking a blue-colored pickup truck parked next to the hangar, and oil was "spraying everywhere." The engine eventually shut down, and the propeller moved to the feathered position. The airplane was pulled from the hangar and examined. No discrepancies were noted with the steering and brake systems. According to the pilot's autopsy report, the pathologist found "focal, severe hardening (atherosclerosis) of the aorta within the abdomen. The heart showed changes (fibrosis) consistent with a previous ischemic episode (heart attack)." The pathologist opined, "Given the severity of hardening of the coronary arteries of the heart, it is possible that the decedent was in the early stages of a heart attack (coronary artery insufficiency). Changes of ischemia (impaired blood flow) in the heart muscle often take hours to become evident under the microscope; therefore, the decedent may have experienced some decrease blood flow to the heart without microscopic evidence at autopsy. Decreased blood flow due to coronary insufficiency can cause irregular heartbeat and/or unconsciousness rapidly." Toxicology protocol was performed by FAA's Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. According to their report, diltiazem was present in the blood and liver. According to the Kaiser Permanente Drug Encyclopedia, diltiazem is a calcium channel blocker, and is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) and chest pain (angina). It may also be used to treat an irregular heartbeat.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's incapacitation due to a heart attack while landing, which resulted in a loss of control and an on ground collision with objects.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/8/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Alamogordo |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88310 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325024N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1055926W |
| Event Location Airport | ALAMOGORDO-WHITE SANDS REGIONA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ALM |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| 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) | 21779 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Southwest Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 8 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2500S |
| NTSB Number | DEN07FA022 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 337C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | Thomas E. Cross, Sr. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Street Address | 1005 Caleb St. |
| Operator City | Burleson |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 76028 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FWS |
| Departure City | Fort Worth |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ALM |
| Destination City | Alamogordo |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 17 2007 3:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ntsb\labj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |