Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Littlefield, Arizona 86432
Sunday, July 20, 2014 18:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 20, 2014, about 1830 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172K Airplane, N84754, was destroyed by a collision with terrain and a postcrash fire, about 4 miles northeast of Littlefield, Arizona. The airplane was owned by D & G Aircraft Leasing LLC, Bountiful, Utah, and operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal cross-country flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the pilot and sole passenger received fatal injuries. The airplane departed Beaver Municipal Airport (U52), Beaver, Utah, about 1715, bound for Mesquite Airport (67L), Mesquite, Nevada, about 140 miles to the southwest.
The accident site was on a steep northwest facing canyon wall, in the Virgin River gorge. The gorge was cut by the Virgin River, and was the path followed by U. S. Interstate Highway 15 between St. George, Utah, Littlefield, AZ, and the airplane's destination of Mesquite to the southwest. The airplane impacted a canyon wall, about 100 feet above the Highway. Traveling southwest through the gorge along Highway 15 toward Mesquite, the steep-walled canyon turned left and then to the right, just prior to exiting the gorge onto an open high desert plain, east of Littlefield.
The closest official weather reporting station to the accident site was at St. George Airport, about 20 miles east of the accident site. Observations taken between 1800 and 1900 showed that the temperature was in excess of 100 degrees F, and the winds were from 220 degrees true at 16 to 19 knots, with gusts to 23 knots.
A motorist traveling southwest bound on Highway 15 reported that the airplane passed low overhead in the canyon, traveling in the same direction as the motorist. The airplane made a left turn following the highway, and suddenly rolled inverted and impacted the canyon wall. The motorist said the conditions in the canyon were very windy.
On July 21, the accident airplane was examined at the accident site by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) accompanied by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Safety Inspector. All of the major airframe components and flight controls were present at the site. The wreckage was re-examined at the site on July 22, and removed to a storage facility for further examination at a later time.
The accident airplane was not utilizing any air traffic control services, and no pre-accident mechanical anomalies were reported to family members who were monitoring the flight, and spoke with the pilot prior to the airplane departing Beaver Municipal Airport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Littlefield |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86432 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365511N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1335112W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1815 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 235 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UTI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 38 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 24 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | NWM ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 1 2014 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N84754 |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA302 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17258603 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2299 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| 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 | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | D & G Aircraft Leasing LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bountiful |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84011 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Dalton Whatcott |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Bountiful |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84011 |
| 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 | U52 |
| Departure City | BEAVER |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 67L |
| Destination City | Mesquite |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 1 2014 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |