Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flagstaff Pulliam Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
Friday, January 23, 2009 6:55 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was for the pilots to attend a business meeting. The left-seated pilot, a private pilot, owned the airplane and the right-seated pilot held an instrument rating; it could not be determined who was the pilot-in-command at the time of the accident. The left-seated pilot had a self-induced stress of completing the flight and attending the meeting as he was concerned about his company's financial health. The right-seated pilot's pressure to depart likely stemmed from him dedicating over a year preparing items to be presented in the meeting. The left-seated pilot had great confidence in the right-seated pilot's flying ability and history in operating in inclement environments, which most likely contributed to his decision to depart in poor weather conditions. An audio recording of the airplane just prior to the accident revealed that the engine was producing high power and the airplane was traveling at an airspeed of about 130 knots. The airplane crashed into a hill bordering an interstate about 10 miles south of the departure airport and in the direction of the destination. The wreckage distribution was consistent with the airplane in a relatively level flight attitude during a high speed impact. An airline pilot, who departed about 30 minutes after the accident airplane, stated that the cloud layer was about 1,000 feet above ground level (agl). At the time of the accident, the departure airport's weather observation facility reported a broken cloud layer at 800 feet; an overcast layer at 1,500 feet and remarked that a cloud ceiling varied between 700 feet and 1,100 feet. Recordings between the Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) and the left-seated pilot revealed that he was open to perform the flight as an instrument flight rules (IFR) operation, but opted not to. Just prior to the flight the AFSS briefer reiterated that visual flight rules (VFR) flight was not recommended. Post accident examinations revealed no mechanical anomalies with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of situational awareness and failure to maintain clearance from hilly terrain while flying in an area of a low cloud ceiling. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to continue flight due to a self-induced pressure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/23/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 655 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Flagstaff |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86001 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345910N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114122W |
| Event Location Airport | Flagstaff Pulliam Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FLG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7015 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 659 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 195 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FLG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7015 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26250 |
| NTSB Notification Source | AWP ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2009 11:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8298Z |
| NTSB Number | WPR09FA096 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 205 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 205-0298 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 16 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5017 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Frank Protiva |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Flagstaff |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86001 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Frank Protiva |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Flagstaff |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 86001 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FLG |
| Departure City | Flagstaff |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 645 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 2V6 |
| Destination City | Yuma |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2009 5:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |