Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Benson Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Benson, Arizona 85602
Friday, July 18, 2008 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Local area residents driving on a road toward the airport saw the tail of an airplane sticking out from behind an adjacent hill. They hiked out to the site over flat desert terrain, found the accident airplane and fatally injured pilot, then notified authorities. The airplane came to rest about 1 mile east of the destination airport. Ground scars and wreckage signatures showed a high-angle, low-energy impact in a steep nose-down, left-bank attitude that is consistent with an in-flight loss of control and a stall/spin. The pilot's handheld global positioning system (GPS) unit was recovered in the wreckage and the information was downloaded. Several trail points were identified; however, the unit did not record date and time stamps so no airspeed or altitude points were available. The recorded trail data only contained latitude and longitude information. The data points showed a downwind departure from the flight’s origin airport and then stopped just short of the approach end of the runway, near where the accident occurred. The distance between the two airports was approximately 50 nautical miles, with the destination airport east-southeast of the departure airport. The pilot had not filed a flight plan and fueled the airplane about 2 hours before the wreckage was discovered, but it is not clear at what time he departed for his flight. Postaccident toxicology testing was consistent with the use of marijuana within about an hour of the accident. Such recent use, and the levels of the substance found, indicate likely impairment of the skills related to piloting an aircraft. Toxicology testing also found diazepam, a prescription anti-anxiety medication commonly known by the trade name of Valium, at levels consistent with ingestion more than 24 hours prior to the accident, but unlikely to have been impairing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering for landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's impairment from recent marijuana use.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/18/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | -- |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Benson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85602 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 315959N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1102128W |
| Event Location Airport | Benson Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E95 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3829 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FHU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4719 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 70 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25529 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 18 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2009 10:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Scottsdale |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N923GN |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA231 |
| 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 | Nichols Rans, Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | S-14 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0393064 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 775 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas Pinnell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Thomas Pinnell |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tucson |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85750 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AVQ |
| Departure City | MARANA |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | E95 |
| Destination City | Benson |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2009 2:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |