Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Centennial, Wyoming 82055
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 22:16 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was the subject of an alert notification. The accident site was located in forested, mountainous terrain at an elevation 10,710 feet msl. Sunset was recorded at 1700 and the end of civil twilight was recorded at 1730. The moon rose at 0639 and set at 1516 on the day of the accident. Doppler weather radar depicted an area of light snow showers along the route of flight, near the wreckage location. An AIRMET for mountain obscuration was issued along the route of flight. According to the pilot's flight records, he had logged 3 hours of night flight experience, over a year prior to the accident. An examination of the airframe, airplane's systems, and power plant revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal and correct operation prior to impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse weather conditions resulting in a loss of aircraft control. Contributing factors include the pilot's improper preflight planning and decision making, the pilot's spatial disorientation, the pilot's lack of night currency, the dark night, and the snow, low clouds, and low visibility.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2216 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Centennial |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82055 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412158N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1061529W |
| Event Location Airport | ROCK SPRINGS-SWEETWATER COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RKS |
| 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 | 6760 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2153 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KRWL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6750 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | -10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21441 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 19 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Denver Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43630 |
| NTSB Number | DEN07FA054 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7405210 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2480 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 2984.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Archer Nevada LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 108 E John St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carson City |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89706 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Blue Ridge Aeronautics |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | Nut Tree Airport |
| Operator City | Vacaville |
| Operator State | CA |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RKS |
| Departure City | Rock Springs |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2115 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GRI |
| Destination City | Grand Island |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2007 11:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| 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 | -- |