Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carson City, Nevada
Sunday, March 9, 2014 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On March 9, 2014, about 1500 Pacific daylight time, the wreckage of a Cessna 120, N76856, was observed by a pilot overflying mountainous terrain about 6 miles southeast of Carson City airport (CXP), Carson City, Nevada. The pilot notified the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and a ground team accessed the wreckage about 1600 that same day. They determined the identity of the airplane, and that the sole person on board had received fatal injuries. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, and no FAA flight plan was filed for the flight.
According to the girlfriend of the pilot, the airplane was based at Farias Wheel airport (NV33) Smith Valley, Nevada, and the pilot had flown to CXP on March 8 for some shopping errands. The girlfriend's last communication with the pilot was a text message from him at 1538 on March 8, asking whether she was planning to be home for dinner. She therefore expected him to return either later that day, or possibly on the morning of the following day, since occasionally he did remain overnight at CXP. She did not become concerned until mid-day March 9, and reported the airplane missing about the same time that the overflying pilot had noticed it.
Two different witnesses at CXP reported that they observed the airplane depart CXP on the afternoon of March 8. However, their two reported departure times differed by 3 hours, and that difference could not be readily reconciled. CXP was not equipped with an air traffic control tower, and preliminary searches of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radio communications and radar data did not reveal any evidence of the accident flight. An initial query of Fallon Naval Air Station (NFL) Fallon, Nevada, radar data did not yield any data that could be associated with the accident flight.
The airplane impacted terrain in a nose-down attitude, at an elevation of about 6,200 feet above mean se level, near the eastern end of an approximately east-west valley which opened to the west. The wreckage was aligned on a magnetic heading of about 312 degrees. The engine data plate indicated that the airplane was equipped with an 85 hp Continental Aircraft Engines C-85 engine. The fixed-pitch all-metal propeller remained attached to the engine, and was nearly buried in the sandy soil. The propeller bore significant chordwise scouring on both blades. There was no fire. Initial examination of the wreckage did not detect any pre-impact mechanical deficiencies or failures.
According to FAA information, the airplane was manufactured in 1946. The pilot held a flight instructor certificate for single and multi-engine instrument airplanes. He held a second-class FAA medical certificate, and reported that he had a total flight experience of approximately 4,900 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Carson City |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390553N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1193954E |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 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 | Mar 17 2014 1:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N76856 |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA132 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 120 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11290 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1451 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MICELI JOSEPH J JR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 177 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WELLINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 894440177 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | MICELI JOSEPH J JR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 177 |
| Operator City | WELLINGTON |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 894440177 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| 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 | Mar 17 2014 1:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |