- Date
- October 8, 2002, 19:30 local (Oct 9, 2002, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Newcastle, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N18917Beech C24R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report April 1, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20021008028159A
- Case key
- 55853
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the tree during takeoff. A factor was the reduced light conditions.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot landed on a dirt road and his employer, who owned a country home nearby, disembarked. The pilot was taking off when the left wing struck a tree, spinning the airplane 90 degrees to the left. The airplane then struck a rock that tore off the nose landing gear. Both wings and the wing spar were bent.
Factual narrative
On October 8, 2002, approximately 1930 mountain daylight time, a Beech C24R, N18917, was substantially damaged when it struck a tree on takeoff from a dirt road near Newcastle, Utah. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the local personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight was originating at the time of the accident, and its destination was St. George, Utah.
The following is based on a telephone interview with, and the accident report submitted by, the pilot. The pilot landed on the dirt road and his employer, who owned a country home nearby, disembarked. The pilot was taking off to return to St. George when the left wing struck a tree, spinning the airplane 90 degrees to the left. The airplane then struck a rock that tore off the nose landing gear. Both wings and the wing spar were bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18917
- Reported as
- Beech C24R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- MC-525
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jeremy Johnson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- NONE · Newcastle, UT
- Destination
- SGU · St. George, UT
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- March 31, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,296 total · 4 in this make and model · 1,231 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- SGU, 36 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.