- Date
- January 1, 2003, 22:00 local (Jan 2, 2003, 05:00 UTC)
- Place
- Milford, UT
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8500RAircraft Mfg & Dev. CH2000
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Salt Lake City Flight Standards District Office
- Case key
- 56260
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
the inadequate altitude chosen by the flight instructor, resulting in inadequate clearance and subsequent collision with mountainous terrain. Contributing factors were the instructor's failure to consult pertinent VFR sectional charts for the area, and the dark night conditions.
Analysis
The two pilots received an in-person weather briefing from the Flight Service Station at 2000. They said that they would later air-file an IFR flight plan so that they could practice instrument approaches. They departed about 2100. Approximately 2200, the Sheriff's Office received a 9-1-1 cellular telephone call from one of the airplane's occupants, advising that they had crashed, one of the occupants was trapped in the wreckage, and that he was unable to activate the ELT (emergency locator transmitter). Using NTAP (National Track Analysis Program) data from the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and homing in on the cellular telephone signals, the wreckage was located about midnight. The two pilots were airlifted to a hospital in serious condition. One of the pilots told a sheriff's detective that they did not see the mountain. The accident site was at an elevation of about 8,500 feet msl. The Sectional Chart depicted terrain in that area at 8,840 feet msl. The instructor was reportedly "familiar with the area" and did not consult his VFR sectional charts. U.S. Naval Observatory data indicated the Moon's phase was a waning crescent, with 1 percent of the visible disk illuminated.
Factual narrative
On January 1, 2003, approximately 2200 mountain standard time, an Aircraft Manufacturing & Development Company CH2000, N8500R, registered to and operated by the Salt Lake Community College, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain 7.1 miles southeast of Milford, Utah. The commercial certificated flight instructor and private pilot receiving instruction were seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the instructional flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Cedar City, Utah, approximately 2100, and was en route to Salt Lake City, Utah.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the two pilots received an in-person weather briefing from the Cedar City Flight Service Station at 2000. They said that when they arrived in the vicinity of Delta, Utah, they would air-file an IFR flight plan to Salt Lake City International Airport so that they could practice instrument approaches. They departed about 2100. Approximately 2200, the Beaver County Sheriff's Office received a 9-1-1 cellular telephone call from one of the airplane's occupants, advising that they had "crashed north of Milford," one of the occupants was trapped in the wreckage, and that he was unable to activate the ELT (emergency locator transmitter). Using NTAP (National Track Analysis Program) data from the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and homing in on the cellular telephone signals, the wreckage was located about midnight, 7.1 miles east-southeast of the Milford VORTAC on the 116 degree radial. The two pilots were airlifted to a Salt Lake City hospital in serious condition.
One of the pilots told a sheriff's detective that they did not see the mountain. The accident site was at an elevation of about 8,500 feet msl. The Salt Lake City Sectional Chart depicts terrain in that area at 8,840 feet msl. The instructor was reportedly "familiar with the area" and did not consult his VFR sectional charts.
U.S. Naval Observatory data indicated the Moon's phase was a waning crescent, with 1 percent of the visible disk illuminated.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8500R
- Reported as
- Aircraft Mfg & Dev. CH2000
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-0061
- Airframe hours
- 460
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-N2C, 116 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Salt Lake Community College
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 25, 2002 · 61 hours before
- Departed
- CDC · Cedar City, UT
- Destination
- DTA · Delta, UT
- Flight plan
- VFR
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- January 28, 2002
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total · 570 in this make and model · 1,100 as pilot in command · 240 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 28
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- August 31, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 75 total · 75 in this make and model · 33 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 270° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 25 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.37 inHg
- Observed at
- MLF, 10 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 4, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 787 KB in all.