Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cochise County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Willcox, Arizona 85643
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 19:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 02, 2014, about 1930 mountain standard time, a Rockwell International Aero Commander 500S, veered off the runway and collided with terrain at the Cochise County Airport, Willcox, Arizona. The airplane was being operated as an air-attack coordinator for aerial forest firefighting activity under a "call when needed" contract to the United States Forest Service (USFS) by American East Airways Corp., d.b.a. Houston Air as a public-use flight. The airline transport pilot and crew member were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The local area flight departed from Willcox about 1745. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a company flight plan had been filed.
The pilot stated that as the airplane approached the vicinity of the airport, he was not able to see any wind indicators due to the low-light conditions at dusk. He contacted a fixed base operator (FBO) at the airport and was advised that the wind was light and variable. As he continued the approach, he noted that the tetrahedron was indicating a right quartering tailwind of an unknown strength.
As the airplane touched down, the pilot immediately experienced a right drift which he attributed to a 15 knot right quartering tailwind and attempted to correct by applying right throttle. The airplane responded by drifting left and he retarded the right throttle and added left throttle in an attempt to regain directional control. The airplane veered off the runway surface at an estimated ground speed of about 120 mph and encountered soft sand in the area adjacent to the runway. The pilot was unable to steer and the left wing collided with terrain and incurred substantial damage.
The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Willcox |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85643 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 321444N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1095341W |
| Event Location Airport | Cochise County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | P33 |
| 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 | 4270 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 251 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3179 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 34 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSAD 030251Z AUTO 09015KT 10SM CLR 33/07 A29 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 23 2014 5:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kelz |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N101AA |
| NTSB Number | WPR14TA278 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL |
| Aircraft Model | 500 S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | S |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3180 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 1 |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMERICAN EAST AIRWAYS CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 198104902 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AMERICAN EAST AIRWAYS CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | WILMINGTON |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 198104902 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | P33 |
| Departure City | Willcox |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1745 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | P33 |
| Destination City | Willcox |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 9 2014 6:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 6100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |