Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sandia Airpark Estates Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Golden, New Mexico 87047
Monday, March 9, 2009 5:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument-rated private pilot and passenger were commuting to work in the dark, following a familiar route of flight. The airplane was not equipped to fly in instrument weather conditions and there was no evidence found indicating the pilot had obtained a weather briefing or filed a flight plan. One witness described light rain falling at the departure airfield 30 minutes before the airplane departed. A second witness, who was driving along the airplane's intended route of flight, saw the airplane depart the airfield and described the weather deteriorating from light rain to snow as she drove towards the accident site. She indicated that heavy snow was falling when she saw the accident site and notified authorities. Ethanol was detected in a postmortem urine specimen (at 0.191 mg/dL), and in two separate postmortem blood specimens from the pilot (at 0.075 and 0.092 mg/dL), consistent with impairment from the effects of alcohol at the time of the accident. No witnesses to the pilot’s behavior the night prior to the accident could be found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's recent usage of alcohol and his subsequent impairment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 540 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Golden |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87047 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351413n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1061209w |
| Event Location Airport | Sandia Airpark Estates Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1N1 |
| 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 | 6550 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 550 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 355 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLAM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7171 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| 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) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| 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) | 29.97 |
| 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) | 26441 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 19 2010 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9646L |
| NTSB Number | CEN09FA195 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1B-0146 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1560 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 3 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3076 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RUPERT RANDAL N |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 3261 |
| Aircraft Owner City | EDGEWOOD |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87015-3261 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | RUPERT RANDAL N |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 3261 |
| Operator City | EDGEWOOD |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 87015-3261 |
| 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 | 1n1 |
| Departure City | Sandia Airpark |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 530 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KLAM |
| Destination City | Los Alamos Airp |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 19 2010 4:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| 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 | -- |