Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Coolidge, Arizona 85228
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 9:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Both airplanes involved in the mid-air collision were on simulated instrument meteorological conditions training flights in visual flight rules conditions. Both lesson profiles called for the pilot in the left-seat to wear a vision-restricting instrument training hood, while the pilot in the right seat acted as a safety/lookout pilot. The airplanes were being operated in an area of high density student training. The left seat pilot of the Piper had just rolled out of a right turn associated with the entry to a practice holding pattern to a non-controlled airport. The left-seat pilot of the Cessna had departed a non-controlled airport and was in an en route climb to the cruise altitude, at which he would return to his home airport. Neither airplane was receiving radar traffic advisories, nor was either in contact with a controlling Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility. The pilots in the Piper said that they were monitoring the designated practice area frequency, and had heard no other airplanes in the immediate area. The survivor in the Cessna could not clearly remember if he had been making position calls on the practice area frequency, but his radio was found set to that frequency and he said that he had been trained to make such calls. The Cessna was on a magnetic ground track of about 265 degrees, and the Piper had rolled out on a course intercept heading of 288 degrees about 10 to 15 seconds prior to the collision. The collision took place at 4,500 feet. During the collision sequence, the Cessna's right wing penetrated the lower left engine cowl of the Piper, and the Piper's left main landing gear wheel and tire impacted the right side of the Cessna's aft fuselage. After the impact, during which a portion of the Cessna's right wing and tail section separated, the Cessna entered an uncontrolled descent into the terrain and the pilots in the Piper executed a power-off forced landing. The weather at the time was reported as clear skies with 10 miles visibility. Neither safety/lookout pilot saw the other airplane prior to the collision.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of both safety/spotter pilots to see and avoid the other airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/9/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Coolidge |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85228 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 325803N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1113028W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26718 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP 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 | Mar 12 2010 8:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N94741 | N994T |
| NTSB Number | WPR09FA437A | WPR09FA437B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | 152 | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15285778 | 2816037 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 26 2009 12:00AM | Sep 4 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 16444 | 16630 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHRISTIANSEN AVIATION INC | OXFORD AIRLINE TRAINING CENTER INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1812 MARSH RD STE 6 PMB 202 | 1658 S LITCHFIELD RD BLDG 104 # 2 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON | GOODYEAR |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4533 | 85338-1509 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Air Safety Flight Academy | Oxford Airline Training Center |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | 1658 South Litchfield Rd |
| Operator City | Glendale | Goodyear |
| Operator State | AZ | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | 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) | Instructional | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | P08 | KCZG |
| Departure City | Coolidge | Casa Grande |
| Departure State | AZ | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 937 | 935 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KGEU | KGYR |
| Destination City | Glendale | Goodyear |
| Destination State | AZ | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 12 2010 8:12PM | Mar 12 2010 8:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | -- | -- |
| Air Medical Flight | -- | -- |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |