Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wells, Nevada 89835
Thursday, September 22, 2011 8:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that his passenger wanted to take pictures of a mountain range about 5 miles from the departure airport. As the airplane neared the mountain range, which consisted of rolling tree-covered hills, the pilot turned into a valley. Proceeding up the valley, he realized that the airplane did not have sufficient altitude to outclimb the rising terrain and that turning around was not an option due to the higher terrain on both sides of the valley. The airplane subsequently impacted a 15-foot high tree, entered an uncontrolled descent, and impacted terrain, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented had he gained altitude prior to entering the area of rising terrain. He reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot did not maintain clearance from terrain while maneuvering. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate in-flight planning.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/22/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wells |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89835 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440449N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1150041W |
| 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 | 856 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 245 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EKO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5145 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| 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) | 30.3 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29560 |
| NTSB Notification Source | 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 | Feb 23 2012 11:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N49S |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA461 |
| 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 | Bunker |
| Aircraft Model | RLV-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1950 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 10 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 817 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wells Propane Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wells |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89835 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Michael D. Erikson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Wells |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89835 |
| 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 | LWL |
| Departure City | Wells |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LWL |
| Destination City | Wells |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 20 2012 4:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |