Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Morgan County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morgan, Utah 84050
Thursday, November 15, 2012 7:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness reported that the airplane took off just before sunrise and that the engine sounded normal. During climbout, the airplane impacted rising terrain about 3 miles from the airport and about 776 feet above field elevation. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. A review of the recorded meteorological data showed that the weather conditions were conducive to frost formation. Further, a witness at the airport reported observing frost on the surfaces of parked airplanes on the day of the accident. Therefore, it is likely that the airplane had frost on its surfaces before takeoff and that the pilot failed to adequately clear the frost off the airplane during the preflight inspection, which increased drag and reduced the production of lift; therefore, the airplane was unable to gain sufficient altitude to clear the rising terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in frost remaining on the airplane's surfaces and led to its inability to produce enough lift to clear rising terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/15/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 700 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Morgan |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84050 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411033N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114316W |
| Event Location Airport | Morgan County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 42U |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5020 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 655 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HIF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4789 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| 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) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KHIF 151355Z AUTO 12016KT 10SM CLR 01/M03 A3 |
| 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) | 31900 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Sep 12 2013 5:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5642L |
| NTSB Number | WPR13FA041 |
| 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 | AMERICAN |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1-0042 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 18 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4098 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Darren Tidwell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Huntsville |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84317-9635 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Darren Tidwell |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Huntsville |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84317-9635 |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 42U |
| Departure City | Morgan |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LGU |
| Destination City | Logan |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2013 6:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 3904 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |