Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Yuma Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Yuma, Colorado 80759
Sunday, August 24, 2008 8:28 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was taking two adult family members to the destination airport, which he had regularly flown to for years. Two witnesses at the airport said that it was "very foggy" with "no ceiling" and that the heaviest fog began approximately 20 to 30 minutes before the accident. The estimated visibility in the fog was approximately 1/2 mile. Witnesses at the airport said that they were inside their office when they heard an airplane coming toward them from the west. The witnesses ran outside after the airplane flew over their office "very low and very fast." The witnesses could not see the airplane, but heard it continue flying away from the airport to the east and heard a change in the sound that indicated "the plane was making a hard turn." Approximately ten seconds after hearing the change in sound, and while the witnesses were looking toward the sound of the airplane, they heard a "loud thump" or "thud" and almost immediately saw a ball of fire. No precrash anomalies were noted with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot was rated, and the airplane was certified, for instrument-flight-rules flight, although no flight plan was filed. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Denver air route traffic control center provided visual-flight-rules flight following to the pilot during the flight. The center's last radio contact with the pilot was at 0810, when the flight was approximately 20 miles southwest of the destination airport, after the pilot had terminated flight following. The investigation was unable to determine whether the pilot requested a formal weather briefing prior to the flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane after an encounter with instrument meteorological conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/24/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 828 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Yuma |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80759 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400626N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1024223W |
| Event Location Airport | Yuma Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2V6 |
| 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 | 4136 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 753 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 265 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAKO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4714 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 43 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KAKO 241353Z AUTO 13013KT 1/4SM FG OVC001 14 |
| 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) | 26898 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Regional Operations Ce |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 24 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 2010 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5476P |
| NTSB Number | DFW08FA212 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-525 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 30 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6020 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NUNN PAUL R |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9 SILVERSMITH CT |
| Aircraft Owner City | PUEBLO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81008-1843 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | NUNN PAUL R |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 9 SILVERSMITH CT |
| Operator City | PUEBLO |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 81008-1843 |
| 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 | PUB |
| Departure City | PUEBLO |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 720 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 2V6 |
| Destination City | Yuma |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2010 5:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | latt |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |