Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
Sunday, August 10, 2008 12:23 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Cessna was on a local solo instructional flight while the Cirrus was on an instrument-flight-rules flight plan and clearance to the airport. The Cessna was maneuvering northwest of the airport, and the Cirrus was descending toward the airport from the northwest. The air traffic controller working the flight cleared the Cirrus for a visual approach and advised the pilot to switch to the common traffic advisory frequency. About 2 minutes and 30 seconds before the collision, the controller advised the Cirrus of an aircraft (the Cessna) at his one o'clock position and 10 miles at 9500 feet mean sea level (msl). The Cirrus pilot responded, "thank you," and there was no further contact with the Cirrus. Radar data indicates that for the next 2 minutes, the Cessna maintained a northeasterly heading and climbed to 9,800 feet msl. About 30 seconds before the collision, the Cessna turned approximately 20 to 30 degrees right and continued on that heading, level at 9,800 feet msl. During this same 2 minute and 30 second period, the Cirrus was descending on a heading of about 130 degrees magnetic. The data depict the two airplanes converging perpendicular to one another and colliding about 5 nautical miles northwest of the airport at an altitude of about 9,800 feet msl, or 3,300 feet above the ground. The wreckage of the two airplanes was intermingled and scattered over an area of about 1,400 feet by 1,500 feet. During examination of the wreckage, transfer marks were identified consistent with the radar-derived collision angle. The Cirrus was equipped with a TCAS-like traffic advisory system that would alert the pilot of transponder equipped aircraft that pose a collision threat within a 0.55-mile radius. Based on the radar data, the system, if turned on, should have generated both an oral and visual traffic advisory starting about 30 seconds before and continuing until impact. It could not be determined whether the unit generated an advisory. It is possible that the geometry between the the system's antenna on top of the Cirrus and the transponder antenna on the bottom of the Cessna prevented the system from generating an advisory, but this could not be confirmed. Both airplanes were operating under visual conditions when they collided.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of both pilots to see and avoid each other's aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1223 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rock Springs |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82901 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413930N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1090807W |
| Event Location Airport | Rock Springs-Sweetwater County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RKS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 6760 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RKS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6760 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| 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) | 30.23 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25473 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 10 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 11:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, CO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N758NH | N8341 |
| NTSB Number | LAX08FA265A | LAX08FA265B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA | Cirrus Design Corp. |
| Aircraft Model | R172K | SR22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | R1723225 | 2142 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 | 3400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 10 2008 12:00AM | Sep 17 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8363 | 155 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Franklin Aviation | Renard Argent Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rock Springs | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No | Yes |
| Operator Name | Franklin Aviation | Ralph E. Otto |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | Rock Springs | Wilmette |
| Operator State | WY | IL |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | 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) | Instructional | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RKS | 8S1 |
| Departure City | Rock Springs | Polson |
| Departure State | WY | MT |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1155 | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RKS | RKS |
| Destination City | Rock Springs | Rock Springs |
| Destination State | WY | WY |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 15 2009 1:32PM | May 15 2009 1:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |