Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Taos Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Taos, New Mexico 87571
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 11:08 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 10, 2013, at 1108 mountain daylight time, N424CT, a Flight Design GmbH CTSW special light sport airplane, was substantially damaged after impacting terrain during landing at Taos Regional Airport (SKX), Taos, New Mexico. The flight instructor was fatally injured, and the pilot sustained serious injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual. Day visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and a flight plan had not been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The airplane had departed SKX about 1030 for a local flight.
The airplane was on final approach to landing with the engine at idle power with the flaps set at 30 degrees. The pilot reported that the airspeed was 12 to 15 knots above stalling speed and he was in a stabilized approach to touchdown on the runway about 1,000 feet from the approach threshold. A witness estimated the airplane was flying about 80 feet above ground level when he saw it suddenly roll right wing down and impact terrain in a near vertical attitude. The airplane came to rest inverted about 300 feet short of the runway. The impact resulted in the separation or partial separation of the right wing, engine, engine mount, instrument panel, and cockpit floor.
At 1115 the data from SKX revealed that the wind was calm, visibility 10 miles, sky clear, temperature 28 degrees C, dew point 9 degrees C, with an altimeter setting of 30.39 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1108 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Taos |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87571 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 362729N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1053928W |
| Event Location Airport | Taos Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SKX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7095 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1115 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSKX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7095 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| 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 | 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ASW Regl Opns Center - Ft |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 22 2013 11:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N424CT |
| NTSB Number | CEN13LA409 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | FLIGHT DESIGN GMBH |
| Aircraft Model | CTSW |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 05-06-02 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN S HILLYARD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | RANCHOS DE TAOS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87557-2740 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | JOHN S HILLYARD |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | RANCHOS DE TAOS |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 87557-2740 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SKX |
| Departure City | Taos |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SKX |
| Destination City | Taos |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 19 2013 4:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | latt |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 5803 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |