Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Winnemucca Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Winnemucca, Nevada 89445
Tuesady, July 17, 2007 19:22 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane, along with two others, was engaged in dropping fire retardant on a wildfire. The pilot planned on dropping his load into a retardant gap area that was created by the retardant drops of the other two air tanker aircraft. The pilot reported that he "was anxious to get [to the fire] because that fire was definitely on its way through the gap." During the first run of his drop, the pilot flew in a southerly direction heading downhill. After the first drop, the pilot said he "pulled off left and executed a 270-degree right turn to set up for another drop." The pilot began his second drop heading north uphill into rising terrain. After a few moments, the pilot realized the airplane would not out climb the terrain. He attempted a right turn to remain clear of the terrain; however, the airplane impacted about 10 feet below the crest of a hill in a level attitude. The pilot said that there were no mechanical problems with the airplane, and he had been caught by a downdraft during the drop.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with terrain while maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1922 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Winnemucca |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89445 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403803N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1174752W |
| Event Location Airport | WINNEMUCCA MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WMC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 16 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4308 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 25 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 35 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23932 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 17 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 30 2008 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-RNO-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N806MA |
| NTSB Number | LAX07TA222 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-802A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 8020-0058 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 16000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 2113.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Minuteman Aerial Application, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 915 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Conrad |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59425 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | US Dept of the Interior |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Boise |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 83706 |
| Operator Code | RTYG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | WMC |
| Departure City | Winnemucca |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1916 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2008 7:36AM |
| 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 | -- |