Brigham City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kelton, Utah 84083
Saturday, February 6, 2010 10:15 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The private, non-instrument-rated pilot reported departing on a local personal flight. About 45 minutes after departure he encountered reduced visibility and elected to perform an off-field landing on a road. During the landing roll the airplane encountered a snow bank and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and left wing during the accident sequence. The closest weather reporting station to the departure airport reported a visibility of 3/4 miles, mist with a few clouds at 400 feet above ground level, and a broken layer at 1,200 feet about the time of departure. The same station reported visibilities of 1/4 mile, fog, with a broken cloud layer of 200 feet, and overcast 700 feet at the time of the accident. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing prior to departure; he additionally reported no preexisting mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The non-instrument-rated pilot's decision to take off and fly into marginal weather conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/6/2010
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1015
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Kelton
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84083
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 414128n
Event Location Longitude 1131107w
Event Location Airport Brigham City Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BMC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 60
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 4229
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1012 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 84
Weather Observation Facility ID KLGU
Elevation of weather observation facility 4457
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 68
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 200
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26701
NTSB Notification Source LAX ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 5 2010 1:43PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9227E
NTSB Number WPR10CA129
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 MAULE
Aircraft Model M-5-235C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7137C
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 21 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27
Airframe Hours 1617
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91-A
Aircraft Owner Name TAILWHEEL LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Tremonton
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84337
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Robert J Stokes
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Tremonton
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 84337
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BMC
Departure City Brigham City
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 915
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code BMC
Destination City Brigham City
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 5 2010 1:36PM
User who most recently changed record stam
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 --