- Date
- November 27, 2022, 14:15, time zone not recorded
- Place
- Mountain Green, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N379WRutan Long-EZ
- Defining event
- Landing: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20221127017819A
- Case key
- 106403
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 flight into a valley with rising terrain that the airplane was incapable of out-climbing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, he mistakenly entered the wrong valley with rising terrain, which the airplane could not out-climb. When the pilot determined that he would not out-climb the terrain or safely reverse course, he landed the airplane on the valley floor, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N379W
- Reported as
- Rutan Long-EZ
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1199
- Built
- 1983
- Airframe hours
- 200
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · November 18, 2022
- Departed
- 42U · Mountain Green, UT
- Destination
- KRXE · Rexburg, ID
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 81
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 16, 2022
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 4 in this make and model · 5,500 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 15 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 40 °F
- Turbulence
- Moderate
- Observed at
- KHIF, 16 nm away
- METAR
- KHIF 272055Z AUTO 19006KT 10SM FEW033 BKN090 04/M05 A3002 RMK AO2 SLP169 T00401050 57025=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 5, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.