Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Taos, New Mexico 87710
Friday, May 20, 2011 11:02 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot obtained two abbreviated weather briefings prior to departure and initially planned to fly a familiar route over mountainous terrain. The pilot later changed his proposed route of flight to one that would take him further north over the mountains on an unfamiliar path. The pilot did not obtain any additional weather briefings. Had he obtained a weather briefing for his revised flight path, he could have received an AIRMET for mountain obscuration along his route of flight. A review of ground positioning system (GPS) track data revealed that the flight was uneventful until the pilot began to cross over the mountains on a northwesterly heading at 12,500 feet and into instrument meteorological conditions, which witnesses described as a fast, west-to-east moving front that involved mountain obscuration, turbulence, snow, and icing conditions. During the last 4 1/2 minutes of the flight, the pilot began a series of climbing and descending turns that involved increasing and decreasing airspeeds, which was consistent with a loss of situational awareness or disorientation. The last recorded data by an onboard GPS indicated the airplane was at an altitude of 11,279 feet on a heading of 84 degrees at a groundspeed of 81 knots. The airplane impacted heavily wooded, mountainous terrain at an elevation of about 10,700 feet. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane or the engine. Results of postmortem toxicology testing were consistent with the relatively recent use of an impairing antihistamine, which is often used to treat allergies. It is possible that the pilot was impaired by his recent use of the antihistamine, although the role of any such impairment in the accident sequence could not be established.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in loss of situational awareness, and a possible encounter with icing conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1102 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Taos |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87710 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 362511N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1051714W |
| 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 | 1055 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AXX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8380 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| 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 | 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) | 29382 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SWR FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 1 2012 12:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1533Y |
| NTSB Number | CEN11FA347 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | F33A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CE-1249 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 10 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 64 |
| Airframe Hours | 3767 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 33 YANKEE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1842 SOUTH CONCHO DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN ANGELO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76904-7970 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | 33 YANKEE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1842 SOUTH CONCHO DRIVE |
| Operator City | SAN ANGELO |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 76904-7970 |
| 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 | AMA |
| Departure City | Amarillo |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 936 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KSKX |
| Destination City | Taos |
| 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 2011 3:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |