Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Las Vegas Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701
Friday, July 10, 2009 10:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After a cross-country visual flight rules flight of one hour and 40 minutes, the pilot was landing at an airport with a surface elevation of 6,877 feet mean sea level. While on downwind for landing the pilot extended the landing gear and flaps, and set the engine power at 1,700 rpm. A witness at the airport heard the engine “sputtering,” then the engine failed and restarted twice before he heard the engine fail completely. The pilot executed a forced landing to a field one mile south of the airport and the airplane flipped inverted during the impact with terrain. The airplane was substantially damaged by the impact forces and the post-impact fire. The two occupants were seriously injured. The investigation revealed that adequate fuel was present, with symmetrical fire damage to both wings. The engine was tested at the manufacturer's facility and during the first start the engine started normally on the first attempt without hesitation or stumbling. The engine rpms were advanced in steps to 1200 rpm and held for five (5) minutes to stabilize. The engine throttle was advanced to full open position and held for five minutes to stabilize. The engine throttle was rapidly advanced from idle to full throttle six times. Throughout the test phase, the engine accelerated normally without any hesitation or interruption in power and demonstrated the ability to produce rated horsepower.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1015 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Las Vegas |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87701 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383802N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050905W |
| Event Location Airport | Las Vegas Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LVS |
| 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 | 6877 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 4 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6877 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| 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) | 30.34 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KLVS 101553z AUTO 0000KT 10SM CLR 27/07 A3034 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27636 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SW Regional Operations Center, |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 21 2010 2:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4334W |
| NTSB Number | CEN09FA430 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | 35-A33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CD-331 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Jul 7 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8406 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHRISTOPHER MORRELL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | North Haven |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06473-1907 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | CHRISTOPHER MORRELL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | North Haven |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 06473-1907 |
| 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 | SJN |
| Departure City | St Johns |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 735 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LVS |
| Destination City | Las Vegas |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 23 2010 2:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 8198 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |