Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elm Springs, South Dakota 57736
Monday, July 30, 2007 7:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted rising terrain while maneuvering on a public use animal control flight. The pilot said that he had turned and was heading south and had begun a shallow descent to maintain a constant altitude above down-sloping terrain. The pilot said, "As we continued to descend I noticed a slight rise in the terrain and determined that we had plenty of altitude to clear that rise and continued on with my southerly flight path and shallow descent. As we approached the slight rise in the terrain the pressure in the stick changed very quickly with a movement in the pitch axis only. The pressure came back immediately and then there was another pressure change in the stick that was a little more pronounced. This movement was identical to the other in that it was a pitch change only; there was no movement in the roll direction. After the second time the pitch change changed I made a remark to the gunner and the crash took place." Flight control continuity was confirmed. An examination of the airplane's systems revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot not maintaining clearance from the rising terrain. A factor contributing to the accident was the rising terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 700 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Elm Springs |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57736 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 441545N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1023137W |
| 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 | 652 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RAP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3204 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KRAP 301252Z 15007KT 10SM CLR 21/17 A2997 ICAO: |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23504 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 30 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 | Rapid City, SD, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N661FB |
| NTSB Number | CHI07TA241 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Christen Industries Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | A-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1175 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1890 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4189 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | State of South Dakota |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 523 E Capitol |
| Aircraft Owner City | Pierre |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57501 |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 6V4 |
| Departure City | Wall |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 615 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 6V4 |
| Destination City | WALL |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2008 2:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| 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 | -- |