Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sells Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sells, Arizona 85634
Monday, May 26, 2008 10:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After two touch-and-go landings at another airport, the pilot flew to Sells to perform one more touch-and-go landing. While flying over the airport to observe the runway, he thought he saw a windsock at the end of the runway, but later realized there was no windsock. He assumed the wind was calm, and made an approach to runway 4. The aircraft was too high and fast, so the pilot executed a go-around and approached again. This approach was also slightly high and fast, but he believed he could still land. The aircraft landed hard and bounced. The pilot decided to execute another go-around, and applied full power. The aircraft began drifting to the left, and the left wing tip struck a mesquite tree. The aircraft spun to the left, impacted more trees, and came to an abrupt stop. The pilot did not notice any strong wind at the time, but believes he may have had a slight tailwind. The observed wind at the closest observation station was variable at 4 knots. The pilot said there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing and failure to maintain proper runway alignment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/26/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Sells |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85634 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 315534N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115323W |
| Event Location Airport | Sells Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E78 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2409 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23762 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2857E |
| NTSB Number | LAX08CA155 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17271348 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1920 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Abrams Airborne (Tuscon Aeroservice Center) |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Marana |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85653 |
| 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 | Marana |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AVQ |
| Departure City | Marana |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | E78 |
| Destination City | Sells |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2008 6:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 04 |
| Runway Length | 5830 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |