Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cottonwood Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cottonwood, Arizona 86326
Monday, May 6, 2013 23:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a cross-country flight, the student pilot was attempting a night landing for a fuel stop at an unattended airport and was unable to activate the runway lights via radio. He made one approach to runway 32, executed a missed approach, and then initiated an approach to runway 14. He conducted that approach based on two lights that he thought were the runway lights. When the airplane was very close to the ground, the pilot realized that the lights were security lights on a building and initiated a go-around. However, the airplane struck an airport boundary fence northeast of the runway and came to rest on a street outside airport property. The wings and fuselage were substantially damaged by the impact with the fence.
Postaccident examination revealed that the No. 1 communications radio in the airplane was set to the proper frequency to activate the runway lights but that the radio selector switch was set to the No. 2 communications radio, which was set to a different frequency. When power was applied to the airplane and the radio selector switch was set to the No. 1 radio, the runway lights were successfully activated. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's decision to attempt a night landing on an unlit runway, which resulted in a misaligned approach and subsequent collision with a fence. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's improper set-up of the airplane radios, which resulted in his inability to activate the airport runway lights, and his mistaken identification of building lights for runway lights.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/6/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2315 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Cottonwood |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86326 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344348N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120206W |
| Event Location Airport | Cottonwood Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | P52 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3560 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2255 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4830 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31476 |
| 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 | Jun 14 2013 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N47717 |
| NTSB Number | WPR13CA219 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 161 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7816126 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 28 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 160 |
| Airframe Hours | 10162 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kelly Thompson/Michael Etris |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Checotah |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74426 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Kelly Thompson/Michael Etris |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Checotah |
| Operator State | OK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 74426 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Unknown |
| Departure State | UN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | P52 |
| Destination City | Cottonwood |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2013 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 4252 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |