Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Monticello, Utah 84535
Friday, May 30, 2008 10:45 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The sightseeing flight departed with one passenger on a 2-hour tour, landed at an auxiliary airstrip an hour into the flight for a short break, then departed and continued the tour. After departing the auxiliary strip, another company tour pilot in the area reported conversing with the accident pilot. The company pilot subsequently asked the accident pilot a question, to which the accident pilot did not respond. There were no further communications with the accident pilot. A lone hiker in the area reported observing the airplane fly from her left to her right in a right bank and below the rim of a canyon before it went out of sight. The airplane reappeared about a minute later, this time flying from her right to her left and still below the rim of the canyon, but lower and in a steep bank before it again went out of sight. The hiker subsequently came upon the airplane wreckage and reported its position to local authorities. The airplane was located in a confined canyon about 38 miles southwest of the destination airport. Wreckage and impact signatures were consistent with the airplane having impacted terrain in a nose low, right wing down attitude before impacting two trees. Propeller signatures were consistent with rotational forces being applied to the crankshaft at the time of impact. There was no postcrash fire. All flight control components were accounted for at the accident site. Examination of the engine and airframe revealed no evidence of any preexisting mechanical anomalies. No conclusive evidence was found that could determine the cause of the accident.
*This report was modified on December 10, 2009.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight collision with mountainous terrain for undetermined reasons.
*This report was modified on December 10, 2009.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/30/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Monticello |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84535 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380616N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1095147W |
| 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 | 1053 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CNY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4555 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| 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) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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) | 24938 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 30 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2009 10:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, Utah |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N389ES |
| NTSB Number | SEA08FA146 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17280119 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 23 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2746 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Arrow West Aviation Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Price |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84501 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Redtail Aviation Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Price |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84501 |
| Operator Code | R5DR |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CNY |
| Departure City | Moab |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CNY |
| Destination City | Moab |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - turn to reverse direction |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2009 3:00PM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |