What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) N2454M departed from ksdl at 3;13AM on July 15, 2007 enroute to its home base of kprc. Radar tracks show that the pilot followed a straight path toward kprc until its last radar return at 33 degrees 58'22"n and 112 degrees 1'21"w, at an altitude of 8500'MSL. This last radar return is approximately 1200 feet from the initial impact point. The airplane impacted terrain at approximately 2600 feet. The wreckage indicated a high energy impact with a high degree of entry. Aircraft wreckage was scattered along the impact path approximately 150 feet, (on a southbound heading) and extended 150 feet to the east and 175 feet to the west of the initial impact point. Awp daily report indicates event occurred 0213 pdt/mst. However, pilot sent a text message at 0311 pdt/mst, and took off from sdl at 0313 pdt/mst. An early report of this event erroneously indicated the flight originated from ffz. Sdl was correct origination.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) N2454M DEPARTED FROM KSDL AT 3;13AM ON JULY 15, 2007 ENROUTE TO ITS HOME BASE OF KPRC. RADAR TRACKS SHOW THAT THE PILOT FOLLOWED A STRAIGHT PATH TOWARD KPRC UNTIL ITS LAST RADAR RETURN AT 33 DEGREES 58'22"N AND 112 DEGREES 1'21"W, AT AN ALTITUDE OF 8500'MSL. THIS LAST RADAR RETURN IS APPROXIMATELY 1200 FEET FROM THE INITIAL IMPACT POINT. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TERRAIN AT APPROXIMATELY 2600 FEET. THE WRECKAGE INDICATED A HIGH ENERGY IMPACT WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF ENTRY. AIRCRAFT WRECKAGE WAS SCATTERED ALONG THE IMPACT PATH APPROXIMATELY 150 FEET, (ON A SOUTHBOUND HEADING) AND EXTENDED 150 FEET TO THE EAST AND 175 FEET TO THE WEST OF THE INITIAL IMPACT POINT. AWP DAILY REPORT INDICATES EVENT OCCURRED 0213 PDT/MST. HOWEVER, PILOT SENT A TEXT MESSAGE AT 0311 PDT/MST, AND TOOK OFF FROM SDL AT 0313 PDT/MST. AN EARLY REPORT OF THIS EVENT ERRONEOUSLY INDICATED THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM FFZ. SDL WAS CORRECT ORIGINATION.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.