Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sedona Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sedona, Arizona 86336
Sunday, July 20, 2014 15:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 20, 2014, about 1530 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182L, N42474, collided with the terrain in Fay Canyon near Sedona, Arizona. The private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact and postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to Pipe Dream Aviation LLC and operated by the private pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight. The flight departed Flagstaff, Arizona about 1430 with a destination of Sedona.
Multiple witnesses located in Fay Canyon at the time of the accident stated that the airplane came in from the top of the canyon. One of the witnesses didn't see the airplane but heard the engine accelerate then get quiet and accelerate again. An explosion was heard shortly after. The other witness saw the airplane above the tree line at the end of the canyon before losing sight of it in the trees.
A 9-1-1 call recorded a statement from a witness that was hiking on the summit of Bear Mountain, adjacent to Fay Canyon. He stated that an airplane was flying in the area and shortly after saw smoke rising from a nearby canyon near where he last saw the airplane.
Examination of the accident site by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) revealed that the airplane impacted trees and terrain near the bottom of a steep rugged canyon. The first identified point of contact was a tree about 18-inches in diameter that was uprooted. The debris path was about 100 feet in length and about 40 feet wide and on a 90 degree magnetic heading. Postimpact fire was found throughout the debris path and through surrounding terrain. About 20 acres of land was burned. The wreckage was recovered to a secure location for further examination.
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 | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Sedona |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86336 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345427N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115144W |
| Event Location Airport | SEDONA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 314 |
| Airport Elevation | 4830 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1035 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 313 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSEZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4830 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSEZ 201035Z AUTO 03005KT 10SM CLR 21/06 A30 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC-Los Angeles, CA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2014 8:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N42474 |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA303 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | L |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18259032 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2348 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 7 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3030 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PIPE DREAM AVIATION LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | FLAGSTAFF |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 860030326 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Johnathan P McGeary |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Flagstaff |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 86004 |
| 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 | FLG |
| Departure City | FLAGSTAFF |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEZ |
| Destination City | SEDONA |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2014 8:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |