- Date
- March 13, 1982, 10:51 local (17:51 UTC)
- Place
- Glendale, AZ
- Injuries
- 6 fatal
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- KC135Boeing KC-135AN6160LAmerican Yankee AA-1
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 13, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820313003751A
- Case key
- 70836
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 USAF KC-135 was on an IFR flt plan & executing a tacan 3L apch to luke afb. The AA-1 had departed sky harbour arpt &had been released by phoenix trsa. The AA-1 was heading westerly in airspace designated as a special traffic area & was required to have been at or below 2,000 ft MSL. A plt of another acft who was trailing the AA-1 stated that a low brokencloud cover was encountered & he had to descend to about 2,000 ft to remain 500 ft below the bases. He stated the plt ofthe AA-1 did not descend but appeared to be skimming along in & out of the bases of the clouds. He noticed the KC-135 descending through the cloud deck followed immediately by the collision. The collision occurred about 5 mi south of luke afb at an altitude of 2,500 ft MSL. The logbook of the AA-1 plt indicated this was his first trip to the phoenix area. Luke afb was depicted on the north side of the sectional chart only. VOR airway #16 was split along an e-w line with the northern & southern halves being depicted on each side of the chart.
The USAF KC-135 was on an IFR flt plan & executing a tacan 3L apch to luke afb. The AA-1 had departed sky harbour arpt &had been released by phoenix trsa. The AA-1 was heading westerly in airspace designated as a special traffic area & was required to have been at or below 2,000 ft MSL. A plt of another acft who was trailing the AA-1 stated that a low brokencloud cover was encountered & he had to descend to about 2,000 ft to remain 500 ft below the bases. He stated the plt ofthe AA-1 did not descend but appeared to be skimming along in & out of the bases of the clouds. He noticed the KC-135 descending through the cloud deck followed immediately by the collision. The collision occurred about 5 mi south of luke afb at an altitude of 2,500 ft MSL. The logbook of the AA-1 plt indicates this was his first trip to the phoenix area. Luke afb was depicted on the north side of the sectional chart only. VOR airway #16 was split along an e-w line with the northern & southern halves being depicted on each side of the chart.
Aircraft · 2
- Registration
- KC135
- Reported as
- Boeing KC-135A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 571489
- Engine
- P & W J-57-P-59W, 13,750 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- Both
- Operator
- Usaf
- Registered owner
- Usaf
- Departed
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Destination
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LUF
- Registration
- N6160L
- Reported as
- American Yankee AA-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA1-0360
- Airframe hours
- 1,201
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C2C, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James D. Breshears
- Registered owner
- James D. Breshears
- Departed
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Destination
- LVK · Livermore, CA
- Airport
- LUF
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
- Pilot, aircraft 1
- Age
- 39
- Certificate
- Military
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 3,604 total · 370 in this make and model
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N6160L
- Age
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 598 total · 110 in this make and model · 400 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 120° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 136 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LUF, 5 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.