Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On September 7, 2008, at 1210 mountain daylight time, a Gulfstream American Corporation AA-5A Cheetah airplane, N26930 impacted terrain while conducting a pipeline patrol near Baxter Pass, Colorado. The commercial pilot and non-pilot rated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed. The flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

The pilot departed Alamogordo, New Mexico the morning of the accident and landed at Canyonlands Field Airport (CNY), Utah. The pilot picked up an employee of Mid-American Pipeline Company at CNY and departed at approximately 1120. Witnesses observed an airplane matching N26930's description approximately 18 miles south of the accident site and 90 miles from CNY flying north at low altitude. The witnesses stated the weather was clear, temperature between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (F), and winds were calm. Passing motorists discovered the wreckage at approximately 1430.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. His last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second-class medical was issued on May 22, 2008, with the limitation of "MUST WEAR CORRECTIVE LENSES."

The pilot's logbook was not located during the investigation. The pilot indicated 3,500 total flight hours and 700 flight hours during the past six months on his last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second-class medical application.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The 1979-model Gulfstream American Corporation model AA-5A, serial number AA5A0817, was a low wing airplane, with a fixed landing gear, and was configured for four occupants. The airplane was powered by a direct drive, horizontally opposed, carbureted, air-cooled, four-cylinder engine. The engine was a Lycoming O-320-E2G, serial number L-48620-27A, rated at 180 horsepower, and was driving a two-bladed McCauley propeller. The airplane was designed with a cruise speed at 75 percent power of 128 knots and a stall speed (VSo) of 53 knots

The airplane and engine logbooks were not located during the investigation.

FLIGHT RECORDER INFORMATION

A Garmin GPSMap 396 was recovered from the airplane wreckage. It was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board headquarters for download. One hundred sixty one (161) user defined waypoints, two (2) user defined routes, and seventeen (17) tracklogs were downloaded from the GPSMAP 396. Five (5) tracklogs were recorded on the date of the accident. Data corresponding to the last tracklog began at 1121:46 with a latitude/longitude position fix nearby to CNY. The following are the last five waypoints recorded on that tracklog:

Time GPS Altitude Speed Heading Coordinates
12:09:18 6736 ft 93 mph 54° true N39 33.514 W108 55.145
12:09:30 6739 ft 95 mph 67° true N39 33.672 W