14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, November 23, 2012 in Tacna, AZ
Aircraft: PIPER PA-28-160, registration: N5076W
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On November 23, 2012, at an undetermined time, a Piper PA-28-160, N5076W, impacted desert terrain near Tacna, Arizona. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot was fatally injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal flight departed Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, Arizona, at 0957, with an unknown destination. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot’s husband reported that he had received a voicemail from her. He stated that she appeared to be “acting paranoid” stating she was going to take the airplane flying to get away from “Them.”
Fueling records at Atlantic Aviation-Tucson established that the airplane was last fueled on November 23, 2012, with the addition of 15.1 gallons of 100LL octane aviation fuel. At the pilot’s request, the service technician also added air to the nose wheel tire. Afterwords he watched as the pilot taxied out and then saw her take off using taxiway “D” and flew southbound.
Air traffic controllers at TUS reported that at 0957 MST an unknown airplane departed using taxiway “D” without any coordination or communication with air traffic controllers. The airplane was not transmitting any transponder information. The airplane was tracked with radar until it neared Eloy, Arizona.
On November 28, 2012, a US Customs and Border Protection agent was on patrol and found the airplane wreckage with one deceased female person within the wreckage. The accident site was located 28 miles south of highway 8, about 650 feet west of Papago Road, and located inside the restricted area R-2301W. The terrain was flat desert small trees and shrubs.
Investigators responded to the accident site and documented the wreckage. The wreckage was recovered for further examination.
| News for Yuma, Imperial Valley, El Centro, AZ
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 5076W Make/Model: PA28 Description: PA-28 CHEROKEE, ARROW, WARRIOR, ACHER, D
Date: 11/23/2012 Time: 1830
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: YUMA State: AZ Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS
FATALLY INJURED, WRECKAGE LOCATED IN RUGGED TERRAIN 50 MILES FROM YUMA, AZ
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: SCOTTSDALE, AZ (WP07) Entry date: 11/29/2012
http://registry.faa.gov/N5076W
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — The Yuma County sheriff's office says one person has been found dead after a small civilian plane crashed on a military bombing range in southwestern Arizona.
The single-engine plane was found by U.S. Border Patrol agents Wednesday morning about 15 miles south of Interstate 8 and 50 miles southeast of Yuma on the Air Force's Barry Goldwater bombing range.
The sheriff's office was withholding the name of the person killed until next of kin are notified.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says searchers had been looking for a Piper Cherokee that took off from Tucson on Nov. 23. The pilot's husband reported her missing and a search was launched.
A Yuma Sector Border Patrol agent who was on routine patrol found the wreckage of a small plane Wednesday morning on the Barry M. Goldwater Bombing Range. One person was found dead inside.
Agents Spencer Tippets, of the Yuma Sector Public Affairs Office, said the agent located the scene at approximately 8:42 a.m. on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.
“The U.S. Border Patrol notified the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office,” Tippets said.
According to Capt. Eben Bratcher, of the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, his office received the report of a downed aircraft on the range just west of the Mohawk Mountains, approximately 10 to 15 miles south of Interstate 8.
“It had been out there for at least 24 hours, maybe even longer. It could have been there for several days,” Bratcher said. “We don’t know what the pilot was doing over the range. I think it is restricted airspace, and it’s something we will be looking into.”
Bratcher said the initial information is the plane was a civilian single-engine passenger plane, not a military aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board is on its way from Tucson and will be investigating the crash. The identity of the occupant is being withheld pending next of kin notification.
Capt. Staci Reidinger, director of public affairs at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, said the plane was located on the southeastern section of the range.
She added because the area is a protected refuge, it is restricted airspace and the air station does not conduct any training exercises in the area.
http://www.yumasun.com
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