Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cedar City, Utah 84720
Friday, October 26, 2007 20:06 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument-rated private pilot's departure had been delayed, and he was in a hurry to fly home. The pilot elected to fly over mountainous terrain in dark, nighttime conditions. Recorded radar data shows that after cruising for nearly 2 hours, the airplane initially entered a slow descent from 12,600 to 11,100 feet. Thereafter, the radar track shows the airplane commencing a clockwise turn while continuing to descend. While reversing course, the pilot became spatially disoriented, and the airplane rapidly descended, as evidenced by its sudden disappearance from radar. During the descent the airplane broke apart. Wreckage was found on a 6,400-foot (mean sea level) mountain and was scattered over a 950 by 350 foot oval-shaped area. The major components that separated were the horizontal stabilator, the vertical tail surfaces, and the 6-foot-long outboard span of both wings. The propeller blades exhibited signatures consistent with the absorption of rotational energy during ground impact. No preimpact anomalies were found during the wreckage examination and all fractures were overload in character. The descending flight profile, followed by the course reversal away from the pilot's destination, was consistent with a spiral maneuver. The structural breakup resulted from aerodynamic forces induced by the pilot's recovery attempts that exceeded the airframe's strength.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while in cruise flight due to spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident were the dark conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/26/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2006 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cedar City |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84720 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 372545N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1125448W |
| 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 | 1953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 318 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CDC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5622 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| 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) | 24894 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 27 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 6 2009 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, UT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3971X |
| NTSB Number | LAX08FA001 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7535371 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Aug 2 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3370.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GORDON PETER J DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1282 W 1200 S |
| Aircraft Owner City | WOODS CROSS |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84087-2274 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Benjamin B. Timpson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Centennial Park |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 86021 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BTF |
| Departure City | Bountiful |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1815 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AZC |
| Destination City | Colorado City |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 6 2009 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |