Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Holman, New Mexico 87723
Tuesady, March 13, 2007 15:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane struck a grove of trees and impacted terrain in a near-vertical attitude, just below a state highway, at the 9,186-foot level. Two witnesses reported seeing a low-flying airplane that was "barely clearing the trees." One of the witnesses said the airplane's wheels were about "20 to 50 feet above the trees" and the airplane banked south. They lost sight of the airplane as he rounded a bend in the road. According to the pilot's flight instructor, the pilot and he had flown this route numerous times. Both the pilot and the instructor were familiar with the terrain and the mountain pass. According to the Albuquerque Sectional Chart, the summit of the pass is approximately 10,000 feet msl. Engine disassembly revealed no discrepancies. Data downloaded from a Garmin GPS (Global Positioning System) MAP 195 recovered from the wreckage revealed the airplane had been cruising between 100 and 125 mph. According to NTSB's GPS Specialist's factual report, "The airplane began to slow gradually after passing over Rt. 518. This road lies in the center of a broad north-south oriented valley. The airplane had slowed to approximately 74 mph by the time it reached the coordinates of the last recorded GPS tracklog point. The airplane maintained a near straight line course during this time" and was "entering an area of rising terrain. Information concerning aircraft altitude was not available because the GPSMAP 195 does not calculate and record GPS altitude."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain a safe altitude and clearance, and his improper inflight planning/decision to postpone initiating a climbing turn to avoid obstructions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/13/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Holman |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87723 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360449N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1052614W |
| 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 | 1453 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 132053Z AUTO VRB04KT 10SM CLR 17/M09 A3001 RMK A02 |
| 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) | 21844 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Southwest Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 14 2007 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 | N4761J |
| NTSB Number | DEN07FA071 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A23A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | M-1022 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 61 |
| Airframe Hours | 2153 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AZUSA, LLP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2964 Eric La. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Farmers Branch |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75234 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AZUSA, LLP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | TCC |
| Departure City | Tucumcari |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1424 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 00C |
| Destination City | Durango |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 29 2007 10:37AM |
| 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 | -- |