Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Libby Army Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sierra Vista, Arizona 85613
Thursday, February 19, 2009 13:18 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
At the time of the accident the flight was operating as a Launch Recovery Element training mission, performing touch-and-go landings on runway 26. Customs and Border Protection had resumed pilot training following a Federal Aviation Administration-imposed suspension as a result of an accident 2 days prior. The accident landing was the seventh of eight planned landings. As the student pilot rotated the aircraft into the landing flare about six feet above the touchdown zone, a tailwind of approximately 9 knots was recorded. The instructor told the student to increase the pitch to arrest the descent rate and increase power to begin a go-around. However, the aircraft touched down hard on the main gear and lower vertical stabilizer and porpoised a number of times. The instructor then took over, executing a go-around and landing with no further incident. The aircraft sustained damage to the propeller, left main landing gear, vertical fin and the lower cowl. There was no evidence of any preexisting anomalies with the aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's improper flare while landing with a tailwind and the instructor pilot's delayed response.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/19/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1318 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Sierra Vista |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85613 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 313513N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1102050W |
| Event Location Airport | Libby Army Airfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KFHU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4719 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2030 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFHU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4719 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 90 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| 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 | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26592 |
| NTSB Notification Source | CBP |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 23 2010 11:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | CBP-108 |
| NTSB Number | DCA09FA028 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GENERAL ATOMICS |
| Aircraft Model | MQ-9 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 108 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 0 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 0 |
| Passenger Seats | 0 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 0 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 4 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 561 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | US Customs and Border Protection |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sierra Vista |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85613 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | US Customs and Border Protection |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Sierra Vista |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85613 |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KFHU |
| Departure City | Sierra Vista |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1221 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KFHU |
| Destination City | Sierra Vista |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2014 9:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 12001 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |