Sad news 12/15/2019

[BKlott]

CAMP VERDE, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a plane crash discovered when a rancher found wreckage in a rural area of eastern Yavapai County.

A rancher on Friday reported finding the wreckage of a single-engine plane and a body at the crash site southeast of the junction of Interstate 17 and State Route 169, the county Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.

The remains weren’t immediately identified but the rancher described the crash wreckage as apparently a “couple of days old,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

 

 

[EricJ]

Bummer.    The AZ pilots association tracks accidents involving AZ pilots, and presents an annual assessment, tracks statistics, etc.   The latest newsletter came out just a little while ago and one of the guys that collects the data was excited because we hadn't had a fatality yet this year.   

 

[ragedracer1977]

NTSB says it was a C model Mooney

[ragedracer1977]

Someone on FB said it was a new owner flying it home. 

Same plane?

 

https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/30079661/1963-mooney-m20c

[Hank]

2 minutes ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Someone on FB said it was a new owner flying it home. 

Same plane?

 

https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/30079661/1963-mooney-m20c

There's rather a lot of that Mooney missing . . . . .    

[ragedracer1977]

I'm thinking it must have happened at night.  There's a LOT of air traffic in that area.  It's where I go when I'm doing training maneuvers, and basically right in the flight path for commercial arrivals into Phoenix and GA between the Phoenix area and Sedona/Flagstaff/Prescott.  

It clearly burned, smoke would have been visible for a hundred miles out there

[RLCarter]

3 minutes ago, ragedracer1977 said:

I'm thinking it must have happened at night.  There's a LOT of air traffic in that area.  It's where I go when I'm doing training maneuvers, and basically right in the flight path for commercial arrivals into Phoenix and GA between the Phoenix area and Sedona/Flagstaff/Prescott.  

wondering why you use that area for maneuvers if traffic is that heavy

[ragedracer1977]

3 minutes ago, RLCarter said:

wondering why you use that area for maneuvers if traffic is that heavy

Altitude.   It's a huge valley.  You can conduct maneuvers under about 7500msl, be 2-3k msl above terrain, but everyone transiting the area will be at 8500 or above to cross above the surrounding terrain to their destination

[exM20K]

41 minutes ago, ragedracer1977 said:

It clearly burned, smoke would have been visible for a hundred miles out there

Not at night....

[EricJ]

I hope that wasn't CFIT.   A new owner out there at night, if not familiar with the terrain and without a GPS navigator would have been at risk.

Tragic from any direction, though.   

[ragedracer1977]

28 minutes ago, exM20K said:

Not at night....

Very first line of my post.......

[kortopates]

1 hour ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Someone on FB said it was a new owner flying it home. 

Same plane?

 

https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/30079661/1963-mooney-m20c

 

Probably not since the Controller plane was Ads/B out equipped but Flightware shows no track anywhere near the accident area nor that recent either. The FAA should publish an N number Monday morning in their preliminary accident/incident data report.

[exM20K]

28 minutes ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Very first line of my post.......

Oops.  Reading is fundamental. My bad. Carry on.

[carusoam]

Giving @mike_elliott a heads-up... (Mooney fatal accident of unknown, as of yet, Pilot)

Prayers for our lost wingman,

-a-

[ragedracer1977]

21 minutes ago, kortopates said:

Probably not since the Controller plane was Ads/B out equipped but Flightware shows no track anywhere near the accident area nor that recent either. The FAA should publish an N number Monday morning in their preliminary accident/incident data report.

Man, you'd think someone would be missing the guy a couple days later.  At this point, it sounds like no one really even knows how long ago it went down

[Marauder]

Man, you'd think someone would be missing the guy a couple days later.  At this point, it sounds like no one really even knows how long ago it went down

It will be an interesting backstory. I know a few pilots who are single and have no close family. I can see one of them in a situation like this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[aviatoreb]

5 minutes ago, Marauder said:

It will be an interesting backstory. I know a few pilots who are single and have no close family. I can see one of them in a situation like this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

There were periods in my life when I could have gone missing and maybe no one would notice for a week or so, when I was young and in grad school.  Between sessions, with most of my friends gone home.  And still close with my family they would not worry if they had not heard from me for a week.  I don't find this factor strange.

[larrynimmo]

To look at the listing for this plane, it looked like a real bargain....and there should have been an expectation of a safe relocation 

[N201MKTurbo]

Who would ferry a new plane in the dark over rough terrain? 

That area is pretty desolate. A burning plane could go unnoticed. 

[flyboycpa]

12 hours ago, larrynimmo said:

To look at the listing for this plane, it looked like a real bargain....and there should have been an expectation of a safe relocation 

My money says it wasn't this airplane, as a previous poster stated, since the one in the Controller listing has a Garmin ADS-B out transponder.  That being said, he would have had to intentionally had the power off to the transponder and ADS-B system to INTENTIONALLY not broadcast, which seems strange and unlikely.  As you probably know, the FARs state that if you are equipped with ADS-B you are required to broadcast (even if it's Anonymous).

Sam Swift

[chriscalandro]

It does look like it could be the same paint scheme based on what paint is left in the pictures.  I have noticed flight paths don't always show up on the internet, so I don't think that is a great identifier. 

[kerry]

The paint scheme on the controller plane has 2 strips on the wing.  The accident wing has 3 strips and is overlapping the leading edge.  I don't think it's the same plane.

[chriscalandro]

You're right.  It's not the same paint scheme.

[kortopates]

The FAA accident/incident database indicates the N number was N5557Q, a '65 C model. It apparently was not ADS/B equipped as there are no flight tracks recorded in Flight aware since July 30th of this year.  Its current owner, whom may or may not have been the pilot, is a Phoenix based individual that acquired the plane in June 20118 - just about a 1 1/2 years ago. I found no reference of the N number on Mooneyspace - yet. All we have to go on so far from the DB entry is "AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES WITH POST ACCIDENT FIRE, YAVARAI COUNTY, AZ."

Flight aware does show a 7 year old picture of the plane on a ramp tied down somewhere.

Maybe one of our Phoenix area Mooneyspacers will recognized the owner name or N number?

https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N5557Q 

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by kortopates

[cferr59]

3 minutes ago, chriscalandro said:

Wait. That’s Steve. I’ve flown in this airplane several times, and he’s flown mine. 
 

I hope that’s not true. I don’t know how they got an n number from that...

 

if anyone has more information please pm me. 

I would guess they got the serial number on the data plate, not the N-Number.