Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tacna, Arizona 85352
Friday, November 23, 2012 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On November 23, 2012, at an undetermined time, a Piper PA-28-160, N5076W, impacted desert terrain near Tacna, Arizona. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot was fatally injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal flight departed Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, Arizona, at 0957, with an unknown destination. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot’s husband reported that he had received a voicemail from her. He stated that she appeared to be “acting paranoid” stating she was going to take the airplane flying to get away from “Them.”
Fueling records at Atlantic Aviation-Tucson established that the airplane was last fueled on November 23, 2012, with the addition of 15.1 gallons of 100LL octane aviation fuel. At the pilot’s request, the service technician also added air to the nose wheel tire. Afterwords he watched as the pilot taxied out and then saw her take off using taxiway “D” and flew southbound.
Air traffic controllers at TUS reported that at 0957 MST an unknown airplane departed using taxiway “D” without any coordination or communication with air traffic controllers. The airplane was not transmitting any transponder information. The airplane was tracked with radar until it neared Eloy, Arizona.
On November 28, 2012, a US Customs and Border Protection agent was on patrol and found the airplane wreckage with one deceased female person within the wreckage. The accident site was located 28 miles south of highway 8, about 650 feet west of Papago Road, and located inside the restricted area R-2301W. The terrain was flat desert small trees and shrubs.
Investigators responded to the accident site and documented the wreckage. The wreckage was recovered for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/23/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | -- |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Tacna |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85352 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 322017N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1133949W |
| 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 | 1155 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NYL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 206 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 59 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 11:55 AM 78.1 °F 28.9 °F 17% 30.14 in 10.0 mi |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | Dec 11 2012 11:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5076W |
| NTSB Number | WPR13FA058 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-160 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-85 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ADM AERO LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | TUCSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85730-2345 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Denise J. McCracken |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | TUCSON |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85730-2345 |
| 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 | TUS |
| Departure City | Tucson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 957 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2012 10:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |