Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Garden City, Utah 82028
Saturday, August 9, 2008 9:07 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot had been on a cross-country trip and was stopping to attend a local festival prior to returning to his home airport. He was performing a low-level flight over his friend's house to signal that he would be landing at a nearby airport. Witnesses reported that the airplane was at 500 feet above ground level, doing banked turns in excess of 45 degrees. The airplane began to climb and then stalled, with the left wing dropping. No preimpact mechanical anomalies were identified during the postaccident examinations. The pilot was based at an airport with an elevation of 472 feet. The calculated density altitude at the accident site was 7,901 feet mean sea level. The high density altitude would have decreased the performance of the airplane and as the pilot was conducting low-altitude maneuvers, leaving little margin for error. Because the pilot primarily operated out of an airport that traditionally has low density altitude conditions, he may not have been fully aware of the performance decrease, especially while manuevering at a low altitude.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which led to an aerodynamic stall/spin.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/9/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 907
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Garden City
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 82028
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 415608N
Event Location Longitude 1112318W
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 851 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 64
Weather Observation Facility ID LGU
Elevation of weather observation facility 4457
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 22
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) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
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) 30.06
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) 25457
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Aug 9 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2009 11:15AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SLC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N63217
NTSB Number SEA08FA175
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 180K
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18052837
Certified Max Gross Weight 2800
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 Jul 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 43
Airframe Hours 3177
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91
Aircraft Owner Name Charles McCall
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Kent
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98042
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Charles McCall
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Kent
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98042
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code WYS
Departure City W Yellowstone
Departure State MT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 700
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 1U7
Destination City Paris
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2009 5:12PM
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 --