Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Montrose Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Saturday, March 22, 2014 14:16 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On March 22, 2014, about 1416 mountain daylight time, a Socata TBM 700, N702H, impacted the Ridgway Reservoir, Ridgway, Colorado. The airplane came to rest in about 70 feet of water. The pilot and four passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The aircraft was registered to Gadsden Aviation LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the destination airport. The flight was operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The flight originated from the Bartlesville Municipal Airport (BVO), Bartlesville, Oklahoma, about 1100. The intended destination was the Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ), Montrose, Colorado.
The flight was cleared for the area navigation (RNAV) Runway 35 approach into MTJ via the YARUB initial approach fix. Shortly afterward, the pilot advised the air traffic controller that the airplane was in a spin and that he was trying to recover. Radar contact and radio communications were subsequently lost. After being notified by air traffic control, the local authorities located the airplane in the Ridgway Reservoir.
Weather conditions recorded by the MTJ Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS), located about 19 miles north-northwest of the accident site, at 1353, were: wind from 210 degrees at 9 knots; few clouds at 1,500 feet above ground level (agl), broken clouds at 3,000 feet agl, overcast clouds at 3,900 feet agl; 10 miles visibility with light rain; temperature 5 degrees Celsius; dew point 2 degrees Celsius; and altimeter 30.10 inches of mercury.
A postaccident examination will be conducted once the airplane is recovered from the reservoir.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/22/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1416 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ridgway |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81432 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383035N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1075340W |
| Event Location Airport | Montrose Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MTJ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 19 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 158 |
| Airport Elevation | 5759 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 158 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MTJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5759 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA -- ANM 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 26 2014 10:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N702H |
| NTSB Number | CEN14FA167 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SOCATA |
| Aircraft Model | TBM 700 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 112 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6579 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 7 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| 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 | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gadsden Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rainbow City |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35906 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Gadsden Aviation LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Rainbow City |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 35906 |
| 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 | BVO |
| Departure City | Bartlesville |
| Departure State | OK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1212 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MTJ |
| Destination City | Montrose |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2014 11:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort |
| 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 | -- |