Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sierra Blanca Rgnl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ruidoso, New Mexico 88324
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 17:32 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot initiated the takeoff roll from runway 30 with the throttle and mixture control in the full forward position. When the airspeed reached 65 knots, the airplane began to climb and the pilot noticed that the airplane was not accelerating. He flew over the departure end of runway 30 at 100 feet and started a shallow left turn. He noticed that the landing gear indicator lights were illuminated green so he adjusted the landing gear lever down and then up again. The pilot continued to be distracted when the green lights remained illuminated. He then decided to fly to runway 6 and make a forced landing. The airplane was still 100 above the ground and began to lose altitude. The pilot made a forced landing straight ahead into a field and the airplane struck several trees. Prior to departure, the fuel tanks were filled with 40 gallons of fuel and the airplane contained 40 pounds of luggage. The calculated density altitude for the flight was about 7,800 feet. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Based on the information gathered, it is likely that the airplanes performance was degraded due to a high density altitude and a rich fuel-air mixture.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adjust the engine's fuel-air mixture and decision to takeoff in high density attitude conditions which degraded the airplane's performance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/19/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1732 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ruidoso |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88324 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332756N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1053255W |
| Event Location Airport | SIERRA BLANCA RGNL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SRR |
| 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 | 262 |
| Airport Elevation | 6814 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 106 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSRR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6814 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSRR 192335Z AUTO 32011G15KT 10SM CLR 12/M14 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32532 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2014 12:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | linj-i |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3398M |
| NTSB Number | CEN14CA164 |
| 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 28R-201 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 201 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7837113 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 12 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 94 |
| Airframe Hours | 13031 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DE AVIATION INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LA PORTE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 775714401 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Harvey and Rihn Aviation, TX |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LA PORTE |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 775714401 |
| 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 | SRR |
| Departure City | RUIDOSO |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CNM |
| Destination City | CARLSBAD |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2014 5:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | linj-i |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 06 |
| Runway Length | 8120 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |