# Accident 19980318003699A: Cessna 421B, Show Low, AZ, March 18, 1998 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: March 18, 1998, 04:41 local time - Place: Show Low, AZ - Airport: Show Low Municipal Airport - Damage: Substantial damage - Phase of flight: Takeoff Ground Roll - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Operator: ANDA - Location: 34.2294° N, 110.0694° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.2294&lon=-110.0694&mi=10 - Aircraft: N70PD, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N70PD-2018-02-21) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Cessna 421B (registry code 2076014, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-421b) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: Continental GTSIO-520-C (registry code 17035, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-gtsio-520-c) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 421B - Reported engine: CONT GTSIO520C - People aboard: 3 - Fatal injuries: 0 - Pilot flight hours: 5,500 total, 80 in this make and model, 25 in the last 90 days - NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX98LA121](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX98LA121) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980318003699A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. RAN OFF RUNWAY INTO MUD ON TAKEOFF. HEAVY SNOW ON WINDSHIELD. HAD MOVED THE H21 AND CLEANED OFF SNOW BY FAA ARRIVAL (.4)ON MARCH 18, 1998, AT 0441 HOURS MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME, A CESSNA 421B, N70PD, RAN OFF RUNWAY 24 DURING THE INITIAL TAKEOFF ROLL AND COLLAPSED THE NOSE GEAR AT SHOW LOW, ARIZONA. THE AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. THE PILOT, PARAMEDIC, AND FLIGHT NURSE WERE NOT INJURED. THE AIRCRAFT, OPERATED BY AMERICAN CORPORATE AVIATION, D.B.A. MEDICAL EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL INC., WAS ON A 14 CFR PART 91 REPOSITIONING FLIGHT TO PICK UP AN INJURED PERSON AT ZUNI PUEBLO AIRPORT WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS ON AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN AND INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE FILED AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN AND RECEIVED HIS CLEARANCE FROM HIS CELLULAR TELEPHONE WHILE HE WAS HOLDING HIS POSITION ON THE RUNWAY. HE SAID HE RELEASED THE PARKING BRAKE AND BEGAN WHAT SEEMED TO BE A NORMAL TAKOFF ROLL ON RUNWAY 24. HE STATED THAT IT WAS SNOWING WITH APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES VISIBILITY AND THE RUNWAY WAS WET WITH SOME ACCUMULATION OF SNOW AND SLUSH. ABOUT 200 FEET ON THE TAKEOFF ROLL, WITH THE AIRSPEED INDICATO R SHOWING 40-50 KNOTS, THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO VEER TO THE LEFT. THE PILOT SAID HE RESPONDED INITIALLY WITH DIFFERENTIAL POWER AND FULL RIGHT RUDDER BUT THAT THIS HAD LITTLE CORRECTIVE EFFECT. THE RIGHT WHEEL DEPARTED THE PAVEMENT ABOUT 500 TO 750 FEET, AND THE TAKEOFF WAS ABORTED BY RETARDING THE THROTTLES AND APPLYING THE BRAKES. THE AIRPLANE CAME TO REST IN THE MUD TO THE LEFT OF THE RUNWAY IN A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE, WITH THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) INSPECTOR WHO TRAVELED TO THE SCENE, WITNESSES STATED THAT IT WAS SNOWING HEAVILY AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE INSPECTOR ESTIMATED THAT THE PILOT TAXIED THE AIRPLANE ABOUT 1/2 MILE TO REACH THE END OF THE RUNWAY. HE SAID THERE WAS A DISPLACED THRESHOLD AT THE END OF RUNWAY 24 AND THE RUNWAY LIGHTS WERE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF THE SNOW. HE ALSO NOTED THAT THE PILOT COULD NOT SEE THE RUNWAY LINES AND ONLY THE TAXIWAY LINES AND RUNWAY EDGE LINES WERE VISIBLE ON THE SNOW-COVERED RUNWAY. THE FAA REPRESENTATIVE STATED THE STARTING POINT AND WHERE THE AIRPLANE FINALLY ENDED UP WAS A STRAIGHT LINE ON THE RUNWAY EDGE SIDE STRIPE, WHICH WAS APPROXIMATELY 20 FEET TO THE LEFT OF THE RUN WAY CENTERLINE MARKING. THE PILOT TOLD THE INSPECTOR THAT THE SNOW WAS ACCUMULATING RAPIDLY ON THE WINDSHIELD, BUT THAT HE THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE A FACTOR ONCE HE BEGAN HIS TAKEOFF ROLL. HE STATED THAT THE AIRCRAFT YAWED TO THE LEFT AND THAT IT FELT LIKE THE LEFT BRAKE WAS "DRAGGING" PRIOR TO THE AIRPLANE GOING OFF THE RUNWAY. (-23) DURING THE TAKE OFF PHASE OF OPERATION, AN AIR AMBULANCE ENROUTE TO ZUNI MN TO PICK UP A PATIENT, THE AIRCRAFT LEFT THE RUNWAY AND THEN SANK INTO DEEP MUD CAUSING THE NOSE GEAR TO FAIL. THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. OTHER FACTORS WERE HEAVY SNOW COVERING THE WIND SCREEN AND MISLEADING VISUAL CUES CAUSED BY THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD AND ADJACENT RUNWAY LIGHTS. FAA AWAITING FOR OPERATOR TO PRESENT LOG BOOKS. ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB LAX98LA121](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX98LA121), Mar 18, 1998: Cessna 421B (N70PD), Show Low, AZ, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot's failure to attain the proper alignment on the runway due to the obscuration by snow of the runway and on the airplane's windows. ## Other reports on N70PD (1) Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date. - [Incident 20120420006339I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20120420006339I), Apr 20, 2012: Cessna 421B (N70PD), Great Bend, KS, No damage. On 4/20/12, the aircraft was enroute from wichita, KS (ict) to greely, co (gxy). Approximately twenty minutes into the flight and at cruise, the pilot noted a… From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.