Friday, September 25, 2015

Cessna 172M Skyhawk, N6929H: Fatal accident occurred July 03, 2020 in Alpine, Utah County, Utah -and- Incident occurred August 30, 2015 in Burnsville, North Carolina

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Salt Lake City, Utah

Aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances.  

http://registry.faa.gov/N6929H

Date: 03-JUL-20
Time: 14:00:00Z
Regis#: N6929H
Aircraft Make: CESSNA
Aircraft Model: 172
Event Type: ACCIDENT
Highest Injury: FATAL
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: SUBSTANTIAL
Activity: PERSONAL
Flight Phase: EN ROUTE (ENR)
Operation: 91
City: ALPINE
State: UTAH


Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation may contact them by email eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov.



UTAH COUNTY, Utah (KUTV) — An American Fork man and his two children were hiking Box Elder Peak Friday morning when they saw the plane crash that killed four people.

Gregg Rawlings and his two teenage sons stopped for a water break and to take pictures when they looked up and saw the plane getting closer.

“It corkscrewed maybe one-and-a-half, two times and went below the tree level. And we’re like, 'what is going on?' I didn’t know if it was a stunt plane trying to do something, but just moments later we heard the impact,” said Rawlings.

Immediately after that, they hiked further up the peak to get cell phone service and called 911. Then they made their way closer to the crash to get the coordinates to first responders, and to see if they could help.

“That is someone’s family down there. We don’t know what happened; we don’t know what state they’re in. We need to go check it,” Rawlings recalled.

Rawlings and his sons found the plane in a green grassy area. They said there wasn’t any smoke or flames like they were expecting,

“We came upon the plane, calling out, seeing if there was any response to see if there was any type of survivors, if we could help with what first aid we know. We walked upon the wreckage closer, there was no responses, it was pretty evident that there was no survivors.”

They gave first responders pictures of the site, and the exact coordinates, as well as the details of what they saw leading up to the crash.

“When we hung up there, it was kind of a relief, knowing that we felt like we have done everything that we could,” said Rawlings.

He said the first responders coached him with how to help his boys deal with the traumatic experience.

“How to just make sure they’re OK, as we go into the future. Just making sure the trauma of what we saw and experienced doesn’t continue to affect them.”

He said he is happy they were there and able to help get first responders to the crash quickly, and not leave the family of those on board wondering what had happened. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

Four people died in the crash: The pilot, Tyson Brummett, and three passengers; Alex Blackhurst Ruegner and his aunt and uncle, Doug and Elaine Blackhurst.

https://kjzz.com


SALT LAKE CITY — Four people are dead following the crash of a small plane Friday morning in American Fork Canyon. 

The crash occurred above the Granite Flat campground in the Box Elder Peak area, according to Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office received a call about the crash just minutes before 8 a.m. They were told by a witness that he and his two sons were hiking when they saw the plane begin to turn then spiral down toward the earth, according to Cannon.

The witness, Gregg Rawlings, was on a hike with his two teenage sons in the area Friday morning when they saw the plane getting closer and closer to where they stood overlooking the canyon.

“Seconds later we heard this thud, and we knew it had wrecked and hit the bottom of the canyon. At that point we were all a bit in shock,” Rawlings said. “We knew we had to quickly help.”

Rawlings said they didn’t have service at the time so he and his sons hiked farther up the mountain until they were able to make contact with dispatch. Upon notifying dispatch about the crash, Rawlings said they made their way down to the wreckage.

“I said, ‘OK, that is someone’s family down there. We need to get down to that wreckage as quickly as we can. One, we need to see if by chance there are any survivors and what we can do to help. Two, we need to get the exact coordinates of that plane wreck,’” he said.

According to Rawlings, it was pretty evident from what they saw that there were no survivors in the crash. From there, he and his sons hiked back up the canyon to give dispatch the exact coordinates.

Teams arrived shortly after.

“We were in the right place at the right time to witness everything that went on, so I was just happy there was not hours and hours spent of people’s time trying to find the wreckage somewhere in the mountains,” he said.

Cannon identified the passengers as pilot Tyson Colby Brummett, 35, of Salt Lake City; Alex Blackhurst Ruegner, 35, of Riverton; Elaine W. Blackhurst, 60, and Douglas Robinson Blackhurst, 62, both of Riverton.

The group had left South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan early Friday morning, according to Cannon.

Investigators from National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will respond to the crash scene in hopes of determining what caused the crash.

https://www.deseret.com


Gregg Rawlings helps Utah County officials find a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash near Box Elder Peak after he watched the plane go down on  July 3, 2020. He shared these photos with officials to help them locate the downed plane.








A helicopter prepares to land near Box Elder Peak above the Granite Flat Campground in American Fork Canyon where a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crashed late Friday morning.


A helicopter arrives to collect the remains of four people who were killed in a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash in American Fork Canyon and transport their bodies to the medical examiner. 


A helicopter arrives to collect the remains of four people who were killed in a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash in American Fork Canyon and transport their bodies to the medical examiner. 


A photo of treetops that may have been grazed by a Cessna 172M Skyhawk as it spiraled down in American Fork Canyon on July 3rd, 2020, killing all four people onboard.


A photo of treetops that may have been grazed by a Cessna 172M Skyhawk as it spiraled down in American Fork Canyon on July 3rd, 2020, killing all four people onboard. 

First responders assemble at a designated staging area in American Fork Canyon after reports of a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash near Box Elder Peak on July 3rd, 2020. 

First responders assemble at a designated staging area in American Fork Canyon after reports of a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash near Box Elder Peak on July 3rd, 2020. 


A trailhead marker near the designated staging area for law enforcement and first responders after a Cessna 172M Skyhawk carrying four people crashed in American Fork Canyon on July 3rd, 2020. 

Law enforcement vehicles assemble near the site of a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash in American Fork Canyon on July 3rd, 2020.

Crews working in American Fork Canyon where a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crashed late Friday morning. 


Law enforcement vehicles assemble near the site of a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash in American Fork Canyon on July 3rd, 2020. 


First responders assemble at a designated staging area in American Fork Canyon after reports of a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash near Box Elder Peak on July 3rd, 2020. 

First responders assemble at a designated staging area in American Fork Canyon after reports of a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash near Box Elder Peak on July 3rd, 2020.

First responders assemble at a designated staging area in American Fork Canyon after reports of a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crash near Box Elder Peak on July 3rd, 2020. 




First responders from the Lone Peak Fire District at the scene near where a Cessna 172M Skyhawk crashed in American Fork Canyon on July 3rd, 2020. 


UTAH COUNTY — Emergency crews responded to a fatal airplane crash in American Fork Canyon Friday morning.

According to the Utah County Sheriff's Office, the plane went down near Box Elder Peak, north of the city of Alpine, and the Granite Flat campground just before 8:00 AM between the Deer Creek and White Pines trails.

The victims on board the plane were the pilot, Tyson Colby Brummett, 35, of Salt Lake City; Alex Blackhurst Ruegner, 35, of Riverton; and Alex's aunt and uncle Elaine W. Blackhurst, 60, of Riverton and her husband, Douglas Robinson Blackhurst, 62, both of Riverton. They departed from the South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan.

Brummett was a former professional baseball player who had played with major league teams such as the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays.

"We kind of looked at each other and realized that was someone’s family... we needed to do what we could," said Gregg Rawlings, who witnessed the crash while hiking with his two sons. "We took some landmarks of where we saw it go down and we started walking towards those landmarks."

Rawlings and his sons, after making note of where the plane went down, walked back up the trail to an area with cell reception and called 911. They then walked back down the trail, where they learned that all four people on board the aircraft had been killed.

All four bodies have been taken to the medical examiner’s office in Taylorsville.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

https://www.fox13now.com

August 30, 2015: BURNSVILLE, North Carolina -- Reports of a plane landing on a local highway came in just before 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

The single engine plane is said to have had carburetor complications. With no air strip available, the pilot landed on US-19 closer to Mitchell County.

No injuries are reported at this time.

14 comments:

  1. From the topographic map, it looks like they reached the dead-end of a valley. Would imagine a Chickenhawk with four adults would struggle to climb out of that.

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  2. It would be better to fly the plane into a brick wall at minimal controllable airspeed than to stall and spin it into the ground. Every pilot knows that but this type of accident is fairly common.

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  3. When getting my PPL the first exercise was to calculate the W&B of a Cessna 172 with 4 adults onboard i2 2 X 180 lb in the front and 2 X 120 lb in the back and there was 8 gallons left for FUEL giving it a range of 50 miles with 30 min VFR reserves.
    My examiner told me it was to show me how little small planes can carry legally if we fill all the seats hence why most small planes can only carry full fuel if one seat is left empty.
    Add to that high density altitude in the height of the summer and any issue with an engine and the pilot took the unsuspecting passengers for thrills they did not sign up for.

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    Replies
    1. Not to contradict your comment (which are usually very factual and thoughtful, BTW!) but to expand: there are STCs upgrading even a 172 to a real plane, although not this plane here according to the FAA registry.
      For a while I rented a 172 with a (SuperHawk?) Penn Yan conversion: 180 hp, different propeller and 2,550lbs GW: 4 adults around 180,220,190,120 w/ full fuel at up to 11,500 ft in February to, over and from the Grand Canyon and some other really nice trips.

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    2. I thought everybody knew a 4 seat plane is for 3 max. Pilot led his friends like lambs to the slaughter. Clear case of manslaughter.

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  4. The landing on the highway in 2015.

    https://wlos.com/news/local/plane-lands-on-local-highway-01-20-2016?jwsource=cl

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  5. Most of the time there is a chain of events that lead to the crash site,...... wonder if he was a new PP and just stalled this plane while sightseeing up a really nice canyon ? KINDA looks like it from my seat.. R.I.P. my friends and comfort and peace to the families .

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  6. A friend hopped up his 172 with the hi-comp pistons, tuned exhaust and re-pitched prop — turned it into a freaking animal, with almost no increase in fuel burn (shows you how much unburned fuel is going out the exhaust ports).

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  7. Preliminary report 20 July 2020 says aircraft impacted terrain in a horizontal attitude with a little to no forward movement. Witness saw turn, wingtip oscillation and corkscrew spin.

    https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20200703X05843&AKey=1&RType=Prelim&IType=LA

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like the textbook repeat of the crash of a docile Cessna 172 in Hatch, NM loaded with 4 passengers too:

    https://www.ktsm.com/news/three-el-pasoans-killed-in-plane-crash-near-hatch-nm/

    This one was on takeoff. High density altitude and marginal W&B situation sealed the fate...

    ReplyDelete
  9. ^That was N251CH.
    http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2019/06/aerodynamic-stall-spin-cessna-172n.html
    Spinning aircraft wreckage diagram is included.
    The N251CH flight was a birthday celebration -- they landed at EO5 at 13:00 went to an all-you-can-eat chili buffet, and arrived back at EO5 at 16:00. Estimated of the aircraft at TO was 2,526 lbs -- and that's an estimated weight. Overloaded aircraft and high density altitude = increased TO distance, reduced rate of climb and angle of climb, longer TO run, higher TO speed and higher stalling speed.

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  10. Not a pilot, but engineering technical training and long time interest in aircraft accident investigation. Have read hundreds of NTSB reports and am surprised that nobody has raised a very obvious question re this incident. As I looked at the photos first thing I noticed was NO fire. It is not often that a gasoline fueled aircraft impacts terrain and there is no fire. If you read NTSB reports you will see that fuel exhaustion has caused lots of accidents, both General aviation and commercial. Did prop damage indicate if the engine was running when it hit the ground, or not? Loss of power, especially in this terrain ( if that is what happened) does not leave any good options.

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    Replies
    1. N251CH above didn't have a fire either... If a Cessna 172 which isn't exactly a slick and fast plane goes into a stall/spin the crash might just be strong enough to kill everyone onboard but not enough to start a fire.

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  11. Fundraiser for one of the passengers:

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/qe8qtz-alex039s-funeral

    ReplyDelete