Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New River, Arizona 85027
Sunday, July 15, 2007 3:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The day prior to the accident, the pilot, who was employed as a flight instructor, flew two instructional flights. Following the last flight, about 1511, the pilot went home to take a nap, as he had only 4 hours sleep the night before. Later that afternoon, the pilot and a passenger flew the airplane to a nearby city to have dinner with the pilot's uncle. They left about 2130 for other social plans. At 0231 to 0234 the following morning, they were videoed entering the security gate at the airport en route to their airplane. Radar data recorded that they departed at 0313 and flew north; the airplane leveled off at 8,500 feet. At 0330, radar contact was lost. There was cloud cover in the accident area with tops approximately 10,000 to 11,000 feet, and the bottoms approximately 5,500 feet msl. There was no moon, and the area around the accident site was sparsely populated with few ground lights. A witness saw a flashing red light come out of the bottom of the clouds. She said she saw the airplane drop twice, and each time saw something like car headlights. The airplane went behind the mesa, and a flash of light was seen. Search and rescue teams found the airplane the following day. Examination of the accident site indicated the airplane impacted the terrain in an estimated 110 degree left bank, with its nose level. Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical or airframe discrepancies that would have prevented normal operation. Toxicology tests of the pilot and passenger were positive for volatiles (alcohol); however, due to two day delay in recovering the bodies, it could not be determined if the alcohol was ingested or the result of postmortem decomposition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent VFR flight into IMC and his ensuing failure to maintain aircraft control while in cruise flight. Contributing factors were the cloudy weather and the dark night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/15/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 330 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | New River |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85027 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335816N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120110W |
| 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 | 353 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DVT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1478 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23385 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 16 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Scottsdale, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2454M |
| NTSB Number | SEA07FA199 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18280833 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 1176 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ronald W. Fain |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Prescott |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86314 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SDL |
| Departure City | Scottsdale |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 313 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PRC |
| Destination City | Prescott |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2008 7:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |