Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Laramie, Wyoming 82070
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 9:05 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Two airplanes of the same make and model were repositioning together to the same destination and were flying about 1 mile apart from one another. The pilot of the lead airplane reported that shortly after departure, they encountered some light rain, but saw no evidence of ice. As both airplanes approached a mountain pass near the accident site, they encountered light snow with a cloud ceiling of about 1,200 feet above ground level and 3 to 4 miles visibility. The lead pilot heard a blind transmission from the pilot of the accident airplane saying he was "on the edge of a stall." No further radio transmissions were received from the accident pilot. The lead pilot stated that at the time of the radio transmission, he had no evidence of icing on his airplane or anything abnormal about the flight characteristics of his airplane. Witnesses located near the accident site reported observing the two airplanes and that the second airplane, which was about 1/2 to 1 mile behind the first airplane, appeared to be "wobbling" back and forth before it suddenly nosed downward into terrain. Review of weather conditions near the time of the accident revealed no potential for icing below about 11,000 feet.
Review of the recovered data from the accident airplane's GPS revealed that the airplane began a descent in the last 3 minutes 57 seconds of recorded data. The data showed an increase in groundspeed for the immediate 44 seconds following the start of the descent from 78 knots to 85 knots; however, the groundspeed then decreased to about 53 knots over the following 2 minutes 56 seconds. The last recorded data point was located about 0.3 mile south of the accident site and about 50 feet above ground level.
Wreckage and impact signatures were consistent with a stall and subsequent spin with a right-wing, nose-low impact. Postaccident examination of the airframe, flight control system, and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Toxicology tests on the pilot were positive for quinine, commonly found in tonic water and occasionally used to treat leg cramps, and sertraline, an antidepressant, which is commonly marketed as Zoloft, and its metabolite, desmethylsertraline. Review of the pilot's medical records revealed that the pilot did not report the usage of these medications on his most recent medical certification application. The degree of the pilot’s cognitive impairment from these medications could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control and to recover from an aerodynamic stall, which resulted in a spin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/6/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 905 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Laramie |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82070 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411843N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1054030W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLAR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7284 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31759 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Aug 9 2013 7:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N28WY |
| NTSB Number | WPR11FA188 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aviat Aircraft Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | A-1C-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3103 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alpine Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Alpine |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83128 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Alpine Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Alpine |
| Operator State | WY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 83128 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Fort Collins |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Alpine |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2013 7:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |