Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Payson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Payson, Arizona 85541
Tuesady, December 18, 2012 18:25 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On December 18, 2012, about 1825 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-31-350, N62959, was lost from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radio and radar contact about 10 miles southwest of Payson, Arizona, during an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona. The wreckage was located the following day; the pilot had received fatal injuries. The flight was being operated as Ameriflight 3853 as a cargo flight for United Parcel Service (UPS), and was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the vicinity at the time contact with the airplane was lost.
According to information from representatives of Ameriflight and UPS, the flight departed Holbrook Municipal Airport (P14), Holbrook, Arizona, about its scheduled time of 1700, with a scheduled arrival time of 1730 at Payson Airport (PAN), Payson. According to the driver of the UPS truck who was at PAN and was scheduled to meet the flight, he never saw or heard the airplane. The driver left PAN about 20 minutes after the flight was due.
According to FAA air traffic control (ATC) information, the flight's first ATC contact was with Albuquerque air route traffic control center about 1812, when the airplane was at an altitude of 13,800 feet; the pilot requested a clearance to PHX. The flight was assigned a discrete transponder code, radar identified, and then instructed to proceed "direct" to PHX. The flight was instructed to be at 10,000 feet when it was 40 miles from PHX. Shortly after the airplane reached the assigned altitude, the pilot requested a lower altitude; his request was denied due to ATC minimum vectoring altitude limitations. Shortly thereafter, radio and radar contact was lost. The last primary radar target associated with the airplane was recorded at 1824:33, at a location of N34º 06.4794' by W111º 28.2604'.
Weather conditions in the area precluded an aerial search until the following day. About 0950 MST on December 19, 2012, the wreckage was located at the same approximate latitude/longitude as the last radar target associated with the airplane, at an approximate elevation of about 7,000 feet. The accident site was located about 12.4 miles, on a true bearing of about 213 degrees, from PAN.
According to FAA information, the pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single- and multi-engine land, and instrument airplane ratings, and a flight instructor certificate with the same ratings. His most recent FAA first-class medical certificate was issued in August 2012. The pilot was an employee of Ameriflight. According to Ameriflight information, the pilot had a total flight experience of about 1,908 hours, including about 346 hours in the accident airplane make and model.
FAA information indicated that the airplane was manufactured in 1976, and was equipped with two Lycoming TIO-540 series engines. The airplane was registered to UAS Transervices, Inc., Pasadena, California. The airplane was equipped with two three-blade Hartzell propellers, and deicing boots on the wing and tail. Maintenance records information indicated that the airplane had about 19,200 hours total time in service, and had accumulated about 23,400 flight cycles.
The 1735 automated weather observation at PAN included winds from 170 degrees at 7 knots; visibility 10 miles; scattered clouds at 2,600 feet above ground level (agl), an overcast layer at 3,300 feet agl; temperature 6 degrees C; dew point 3 degrees C; and an altimeter setting of 29.78 inches of mercury.
The 1815 automated weather observation at PAN included similar conditions, except for scattered clouds at 2,600 feet agl, a broken cloud layer at 3,100 feet agl, and an overcast layer at 4,500 feet agl. AIRMETs for icing, IFR, mountain obscuration, and moderate turbulence for the accident site about the accident time were issued several hours before the accident. There were several PIREPs of light to moderate icing for central Arizona that were issued prior the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/18/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1825 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Payson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85541 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340628N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1112816W |
| Event Location Airport | Payson |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 12 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5157 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| 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) | 29.78 |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Western Pacific ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2013 1:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N62959 |
| NTSB Number | WPR13FA072 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3107752008 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UAS Transervices |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Pasadena |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Ameriflight |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Burbank |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | P14 |
| Departure City | Holbrook |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAN |
| Destination City | Payson |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2013 1:19PM |
| 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 | -- |