NTSB Identification: CEN16FA042
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, November 16, 2015 in Sandia Park, NM
Probable Cause Approval Date: 09/26/2017
Aircraft: Cessna 182G, registration: N2440R
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
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.
The instrument rated pilot did not receive a weather briefing nor file a flight plan prior to departing on a VFR cross-country flight. Radar data showed that the airplane proceeded west on course after departure. As the airplane neared a north/south-oriented mountain range, it deviated from the direct course to the destination, turning to the southwest and then to the north. Overlaying the airplane's flight path on a weather radar image showed that the airplane began the deviation as it approached an area of precipitation. Additionally, photographs taken by a passenger during the flight indicated that the airplane was flying above a solid overcast. As the airplane flew north parallel to the eastern slope of the mountain range, the pilot contacted the destination airport's air traffic control tower and reported that he was descending out of 13,000 ft, that he was between cloud layers, and that he wanted to perform an instrument landing system approach to the airport . He reported being 5 miles east of the airport; however, radar data indicated that the airplane was about 25 miles east and on the other side of the mountain range from the destination airport. The pilot then said the situation was "pretty hairy . . . I can see the ground . . . I'm just trying to maintain visibility right now," and, a few minutes later, "we are really having a tough time trying to get out of this [*mess]." Radio contact was lost shortly thereafter. Radar data indicated an erratic flight path and a varying groundspeed during the last 4 minutes of the flight. Radar contact was lost, and the airplane impacted heavily wooded mountainous terrain in a near vertical attitude. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
In addition to the precipitation indicated by the weather radar imagery, satellite imagery showed cloud cover over the accident area with tops about 28,000 ft. The weather imagery, the pilot's statements, the erratic flight path, and the airplane's impact attitude are consistent with the airplane entering instrument meteorological conditions and the pilot developing spatial disorientation and losing control.
Toxicological testing revealed 0.326 (ug.mL, ug/g) sertraline, a prescription antidepressant, in the pilot's heart blood and desmethylsertraline, a metabolite of sertraline, in the pilot's liver and heart blood. The pilot's medical records indicated that he was being treated for depression with sertraline, and, several months before the accident, the pilot's health care provider noted that the pilot's depression was well controlled.. Therefore, it is unlikely that effects from the pilot's depression or use of sertraline contributed to the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of control.
The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.
Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Albuquerque, New Mexico
Textron Aviation; Wichita, Kansas
Continental Motors; Mobile, Alabama
Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
Moore Aviation LLC: http://registry.faa.gov/N2440R
NTSB Identification: CEN16FA042
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, November 16, 2015 in Sandia Park, NM
Aircraft: Cessna 182G, registration: N2440R
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
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.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On November 16, 2015, at 1259 mountain standard time (mst), a Cessna 182G, N2440R, impacted wooded mountainous terrain in Sandia Park, New Mexico. The commercial pilot and the two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to and operated by Moore Aviation, LLC, Wichita Falls, Texas, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The cross-country flight originated from Kickapoo Airport (KCWC), Wichita Falls, Texas, at 0937 central standard time, and was en route to Double Eagle II Airport (KAEG), Albuquerque
There was no record that the pilot received a weather briefing before his departure from KCWC. Radar data showed that the airplane proceeded on course after departing KCWC. The radar data indicated that the airplane's transponder was set on mode A instead of mode C, and no altitude information was transmitted. Ground speeds during the en route portion of the flight were consistent with normal cruise speeds. As the airplane neared the Sandia Mountains, a north/south-oriented mountain range, it deviated from the direct course to its destination, turning to the southwest and then to the north.
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) transcripts, at 1252:01, as the airplane flew north parallel to the eastern edge of the mountain range, the pilot contacted KAEG air traffic control tower (ATCT) and reported that he was "descending out of 13,000 feet, trying to get over weather but we couldn't get high enough to make it work," and that he was "kind of in between layers." The pilot said that he wanted to "shoot the I-L-S (instrument landing system)" and that he was "east, probably less than 5 miles" from KAEG. The pilot was given the KAEG localizer frequency and told to contact Albuquerque (KABQ) ATCT for a "short range I-F-R (instrument flight rules) clearance."
The pilot contacted KABQ ATCT at 1252:45 mst and reported that he was 5 miles east of KAEG and wanted "to shoot the I-L-S [because] we got caught up in some weather unintentionally." The controller assigned the airplane a beacon code but was unable to locate the airplane on radar.
KABQ ATCT coordinated with KABQ air route traffic control center (ZAB) in an attempt to locate the airplane. ZAB reported that they had received radar returns from the airplane, but that the airplane was on the east side of the Sandia Mountains, 25 miles east of KAEG. The minimum en route altitude in that area was 11,500 feet.
At 1254:24, the pilot said it was getting "pretty hairy. . .I can see the ground . . . I'm just trying to maintain visibility right now." Communications with the pilot intermittent, and ZAB requested an overflying air carrier, Envoy Air flight 3058, to relay messages, At 1257:35, in response to receiving the KABQ altimeter setting (29.61 inches of mercury) provided by the Envoy Air pilot, the accident pilot said, "We are really having a tough time trying to get out of this [*mess]." This was the last radio transmission from the pilot.
Radar data showed that during the last 4 minutes of flight, the airplane's flight path was erratic and its ground speed varied. During the last minute of flight, two computed ground speeds were 17 and 42 knots, which were below the airplane's stall speed of 48 knots. The last radar contact was about 1259.
An alert notice was issued by ZAB, and the wreckage was located about 1330 the following afternoon. The accident site was at an elevation of 7,634 ft., about 23 nautical miles east of KAEG, and 464 ft west of the last radar contact.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, and instrument ratings, and a second class airman medical certificate with no restriction or limitations. He also held a mechanic's certificate with airplane and powerplants ratings and an inspector authorization. The pilot was a former U.S. Marine Corps aviation mechanic.
A review of the pilot's logbook revealed entries from October 8, 2008, to September 28, 2015. According to the logbook, the pilot had logged the following flight hours:
Total Time: 700.1
Pilot-in-Command: 648.8
Dual Instruction: 60.5
Cessna 182G: 33.3
Airplane Single Engine Land: 498.3
Airplane Multiengine Land: 205.2
Cross-country: 577.4
Night: 95.6
Actual Instruments: 45.0
Simulated Instruments: 75.6
Instrument Approaches: 79
The pilot had logged only one biennial flight review, which occurred on February 16, 2011. Between May 13, 2015, and the day of the accident, in addition to 45 hours of flight in actual instrument conditions, the pilot had logged 11 instrument approaches.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The airplane, serial number 182-55540, was manufactured by the Cessna Aircraft Company (now Textron Aviation) in 1964. It was equipped with a 275-horsepower Continental/P. Ponk O-470-50 engine, driving a 3-blade, all metal, constant speed Hartzell PHC-G3YF-1RF propeller.
According to the bill of sale, the airplane was purchased by Moore Aviation on August 1, 2013. Aircraft maintenance records revealed that the last annual inspection was completed on June 19, 2015, at a tachometer and airframe total time of 4,926.76 hours. On that date, the engine, which had accrued 3,145 total hours, was overhauled and converted from a Continental IO-520-E to a Continental/P. Ponk O-470-50. At the accident site, the tachometer read 4,969.98 hours. The last pitot-static system, altimeter, and transponder-encoder checks were conducted on September 6, 2012, at a tachometer reading of 4,870.13 hours.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The following Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) was recorded at KABQ at 1252:
Wind, 290° at 21 knots, gusts to 27 knots; visibility, 10 miles; sky condition, few clouds at 500 ft, 4,100 ft broken, 11,000 ft overcast; temperature, 4° C.; dew point, -1° C.; altimeter setting, 29.62 inches of mercury; remarks: site is automated and has a precipitation sensor, peak wind 260° at 36 knots at 1200, rain ended at 1223, sea level pressure 1010 millibars, mountains obscured northeast through southeast.
The following METAR was recorded at KAEG at 1235:
Wind, 260° at 20 knots, gusts to 32 knots; visibility, 2-1/2 miles, snow; sky condition, few clouds at 1,500 ft, 4,200 ft scattered, 5,000 ft broken; temperature, 3° C.; dew point, -2° C.; altimeter setting, 29.61 inches of mercury.
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-15 visible and infrared imagery from 1300 was reviewed. The GOES-15 visible imagery identified cloudy conditions over the accident location, and the infrared cloud-top temperatures were about -39°C over the accident site, which corresponded to a cloud-top height of about 28,000 ft. The cloud-top temperatures varied in the region, with some satellite-derived temperatures reaching 0°C, suggesting cloud top heights from near ground level to 28,000 ft (or possibly below higher tops of terrain in the Albuquerque region).
A regional weather radar composite reflectivity mosaic at 1300 showed a wide area of light precipitation over the accident region. Overlaying the airplane's flight path on a weather radar image from 1259:22 showed that the airplane began to deviate from its west course as it approached the area of precipitation.
The rear seat passenger took cell phone photos while en route, and sent them to friends in Wichita Falls before the accident. Two of those photos were obtained from KOB-TV, Albuquerque. It could not be determined where the airplane was when the photographs were taken. The first photo showed the airplane flying in VFR conditions but there were clouds in the distance. The second photo showed the airplane flying over a solid overcast.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
The on-scene wreckage examination was conducted on November 17, 2015. The airplane had impacted heavily wooded mountainous terrain intact. Ground scars and damage to the airplane were consistent with an acute nose-down (about 90°) impact attitude, and the airplane came to rest in a near vertical attitude. The top of a nearby tree was severed, and branches were scattered around on the ground. Between the rear cabin and the empennage, the fuselage was buckled forward about 30°. All major airplane components were located and identified. Flight control continuity was established. Both the left and right wing leading edges displayed accordion-type crush damage. The fuel selector faceplate indicated that the right main tank had been selected. Due to the position of the airplane and the snow, the engine was not examined on site.
Examination of the flight instruments revealed the following:
Altimeter: 1,980 ft
Kollsman window: 29.90 inches of mercury
Tachometer: 850 rpm
Recorder: 4,969.98 hours
Directional gyro: 074°
Clock: 1023
Examination of the lower left switch panel revealed the following:
Master switch: On
Ignition switch: Left magneto
Standby vacuum: Off
Pitot heat: Off
Navigation lights: Off
Rotating beacon: On
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
The Office of the Medical Examiner, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, in Albuquerque performed an autopsy on the pilot. According to the autopsy report, the pilot's cause of death was blunt trauma. No significant natural disease was identified by autopsy.
The FAA's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, conducted toxicology tests on samples from the pilot. According to the toxicology report, no carbon monoxide was detected in cavity blood, and no ethanol was detected in vitreous. Cyanide testing was not performed. An unknown quantity of sertraline was detected in the liver, and 0.326 (ug ml, ug/g) sertraline was detected in heart blood. Desmethylsertraline was detected in the liver and heart blood. According to FAA's forensic toxicology drug web page, sertraline (Zoloft®) is a prescription antidepressant used for a variety of conditions including depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic attacks, posttraumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Sertraline is not generally considered to be impairing, although it carries a warning about performance. Desmethylsertraline is the predominant active metabolite of sertraline. and is substantially less active than sertraline. It was learned that the Veterans Administration Hospital in Wichita Falls had prescribed the drug to the pilot for the treatment of his depression.
NTSB's medical officer reviewed the pilot's medical file. According to her report, "The 35 year old male pilot had reported no medical problems and no medications to the FAA. According to the autopsy performed by the University of New Mexico, Office of the Medical Investigator, the cause of death was blunt trauma and the manner of death was accident. No significant natural disease was identified by autopsy. The pilot's personal records revealed a history of cervical spine surgery and major depression treated with sertraline around the time of the accident. Toxicology testing identified sertraline and its metabolite desmethylsertraline in liver and heart blood. The level of sertraline in the heart blood was 0.326 ug/ml. Sertraline is not generally considered to be impairing, although it carries a warning about performance. A few months before the accident, the pilot's health care provider felt his depression was well controlled."
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
According to FAA Advisory Circular AC 60-4A, "Pilot's Spatial Disorientation," tests conducted with qualified instrument pilots indicated that it can take as long as 35 seconds to establish full control by instruments after a loss of visual reference of the earth's surface. AC 60-4A further states that surface references and the natural horizon may become obscured even though visibility may be above visual flight rules minimums and that an inability to perceive the natural horizon or surface references is common during flights over water, at night, in sparsely populated areas, and in low-visibility conditions.
NTSB Identification: CEN16FA042
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, November 16, 2015 in Sandia Park, NM
Aircraft: Cessna 182G, registration: N2440R
Injuries: 3 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 16, 2015, at 1300 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182G, N2440R, impacted wooded mountainous terrain about 23 miles east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to and operated by Moore Aviation, LLC, Wichita Falls, Texas, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the accident site at time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The cross country flight originated from Wichita Falls (KCWC), Texas, at 0937 central standard time, and was en route to Albuquerque (KAEG), New Mexico.
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents, the pilot contacted AEG tower and reported he was descending out of 13,000 feet in between cloud layers and was about 5 miles east of AEG. The local controller instructed the pilot to contact Albuquerque (ABQ) tower. The pilot contacted ABQ tower and requested an ILS approach to AEG. A discrete transponder code was issued, and radar and radio communications were lost shortly thereafter. An Alert Notice (ALNOT) was issued, and the wreckage was located the following day.
The on-scene investigation revealed the airplane impacted heavily wooded mountainous terrain intact in an acute nose-down (about 90 degrees) attitude. All components were located and identified. The engine and propeller could not be examined on site. Flight control continuity was established. The Kollsman window was set at 29.90 inches of mercury. The altimeter indication was unreliable.
His viewing will be held tonight from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Morrison Funeral Home in Graham.
Two passengers also died in the crash, Tim and Sherry Couch.
Tim Couch’s visitation will be also be held tonight from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Hampton Vaughn Funeral Home.
Both Couch and Moore’s funerals will be held on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Moore’s at the Eastside Church of Christ in Graham, while Couch’s funeral will be held at the chapel of the Hampton Vaughn Funeral Home in Archer City.
Funeral of Sherry Couch will be held at the First Baptist Church in Davenport, Oklahoma on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. Burial will follow at the Stroud Cemetery under the direction of Parks Brothers Funeral Service in Stroud.
The NTSB is still investigating the cause of the crash.
New Mexico State Police say the wreckage of a plane that went missing Monday afternoon was found Tuesday near the Sandia Peak Ski Area and that search and rescue crews found three people dead inside.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday night it lost contact with the Cessna 182G Skylane – registered to Moore Aviation LLC out of Wichita Falls, Texas – sometime between 12:30 and 1 p.m. Monday.
State police say three passengers from north Texas were on board the plane, which was headed from Wichita Falls to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Family members identified the three on board the plane as Brian Moore, who owns the plane, and Tim and Sherry Couch - all of Wichita Falls. The family members confirmed state police found all three dead inside the plane Tuesday. The Couch family owns TC Turbine in Wichita Falls, which sells turbine parts.
The family member said the three were en route to an aviation convention in Las Vegas.
At 12:37 p.m. Monday, Sherry sent a photo to her nephew, Nathan Shields. It was part of the last message his aunt would ever send.
"She was saying that there were storms in the area and there were high winds and then we didn't hear anything at all,” said Shields. "I know people say that this person was such a good person but these were, they were good. Very good,” he said.
Rescue crews were out all night Monday into Tuesday trying to find the plane.
“It's been a difficult mission because of the weather - just very extreme conditions. There's approximately 6-12 inches of snow in that area and [it's] very steep,” NMSP spokeswoman Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo said.
Sherry snapped a photo of Moore and her husband in the cockpit before the plane went down.
"We just got back from vacation in Florida. There was 21 of us that went, and we’re just going to miss them," said Shields.
Sgt. Armijo said the investigators from the National Transportation and Safety Board as well as the Federal Aviation Administration will be to look at the wreckage site and try to figure out what caused the plane to go down.
Story, comments, video and photo gallery: http://www.kob.com
Tim and Sherry Couch
Brian Moore talks about how cloud seeding equipment is mounted on a Piper Cheyenne II aircraft used in weather modification research and cloud seeding in this file photo.
Tim and Sherry Couch
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —The search for a missing plane in the Sandia Mountains is over, but the effort to figure out what went wrong is just beginning.
New Mexico State Police found the wreckage of a small airplane Tuesday afternoon near the Sandia Crest ski area.
Three bodies have been found, and there were no survivors, authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the single-engine Cessna took off from Kickapoo Airport in Wichita Falls, Texas, headed to Double Eagle Airport in Albuquerque.
Three people were on board when the FAA lost contact with the plane early Monday afternoon.
The plane was about 20 miles east of Albuquerque. State police say there was no indication the plane was ever in distress.
NMSP search teams, with help from Bernalillo and Sandoval county sheriff's deputies, eventually found the wreckage in very rugged terrain.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
This type of investigation can take more than a year to complete, according to the FAA.
- Source: http://www.koat.com
A United States Air Force helicopter assisted with the search for a missing plane Tuesday morning.“We don’t know what happened,” said Diane McMillan, Sherry’s cousin. “My cousins went there and identified Sherry and her husband.”
McMillan said family members traveled to Albuquerque as soon as they heard about the crash.
The plane, a Cessna 182G Skylane, was last heard from east north east of Albuquerque a little after 1 p.m., Monday, according to Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane is registered to Moore Aviation LLC in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The single engine plane was flying from Wichita Falls, Texas to Las Vegas, Nev. when it lost contact with radar around 12:30 p.m., according to Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo, a police spokeswoman. There were three passengers on board from north Texas, she said.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the search Monday night before turning over the investigation to state police. They focused on the area near the Sandoval County line, north of the Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club, Williamson said.
State police found the remains of the plane Tuesday morning near the Sandia Crest, Armijo said in a press release.
“Wreckage belonging to a missing Cessna airplane has been located in the area north of Tijeras, N.M., near the Sandia Crest Ski Area,” Armijo said. “The mission is slow and tedious due to inclement weather conditions and rugged terrain.”
— Source: http://www.abqjournal.com
Three Wichita Falls people were killed when their plane crashed in a snowstorm near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The New Mexico State Police confirmed the fatalities Tuesday afternoon.
Albuquerque television station KOB identified those killed as Brian Moore, who operated an aviation service, Moore Aviation, at Kickapoo Airport, and Tim and Sherry Couch.
The plane that went missing Monday afternoon was found Tuesday near the Sandia Crest Ski Area. Bad weather delayed rescuers in getting to the scene after the wreckage was spotted.
Its last known position was 14.3 miles east northeast of Albuquerque just after 1 p.m. Mountain Time.
The plane was a Cessna 182, a single-engine craft capable of carrying four people.
Gary Walker of SOAR cloud seeding operations used Moore's company for maintenance on planes during cloud seeding here during the recent drought.
Walker said the plane was carrying passengers to Las Vegas, New Mexico where they were to look at other airplanes. Walker said the downed plane was not one of the aircraft used in the cloud seeding project here.
KOB reports the Couches were owners of TC Turbine in Wichita Falls, a seller of turbine engines and parts.
The search for the plane began Monday afternoon and continued into the night, but had to be called off because of a snow storm and strong winds.
Source: http://www.timesrecordnews.com
Brian Moore of Moore Aviation, left, demonstrates a salt-based flare Friday at Kickapoo Airport in Wichita Falls, Texas on Feb. 21, 2014. The flares are used in some applications of cloud seeding weather modification. Moore's company manufactures and installs equipment for cloud seeding flares.
A specially designed and custom-built cloud seeding flare rack is mounted on a Cessna Caravan flown by a contractor for the Malaysian government for weather modification operations in the Southeast Asia country. Brian Moore, owner of Moore Aviation in Wichita Falls, and Gary Walker with Seeding Operations and Atmospheric Research, were contacted by the country to have them build the one-of-a-kind flare rack.
The one-of-a-kind flare rack was specially build by Moore Aviation in Wichita Falls specifically for the lift strut of a Cessna Caravan used in cloud-seeding operations in Malaysia. Brian Moore, owner of the company, began work on the rack Aug. 4 and hand-delivered and mounted it on the Malaysian aircraft the following week.
Two cloud-seeding flare racks dry in the Texas sun at Kickapoo Airport in early August. Brian Moore and his crew built the one-of-a-kind racks for a Cessna Caravan that is used in Malaysia for cloud-seeding operations.
This specially made cloud seeding rack was built by Moore Aviation in Wichita Falls to be mounted on a Cessna Caravan used by the Malaysian government for cloud-seeding operations. It took Brian Moore and his crew about a week to research, design and manufacture the rack in their shop at Kickapoo Airport.
Support for cloud seeding operations by Moore Aviation has gone global.
The Kickapoo Airport-based aviation company recently researched, designed and developed the first cloud-seeding flare rack to be mounted on the lift strut of a Cessna Caravan, said Brian Moore, owner of the company. Lift struts provide wing support by connecting the fuselage and the bottom of the wing.
"This was a request for (something) that's never been done," he said. "So it's the first one in the world. No one's ever done this."
Moore said he received a text message as he was going into church on Aug. 3 from Gary Walker with Seeding Operations and Atmospheric Research, the company conducting cloud-seeding missions for Wichita Falls. The text message said the Malaysian government called and wanted seeding equipment for their aircraft manufactured and delivered by Aug. 8.
Later that day, Walker called him and told him the Malaysians wanted them to build flare racks for the Caravan and a Cessna 172. The challenge, he said, was the Malaysians wanted to hang them on the lift struts instead of drilling holes in the aircraft to attach them.
Cessna Caravans are difficult to find in the area, he said, but he was able to contact a woman in Enid, Oklahoma, who had cut outs of struts used on the aircraft. She traced the shape on a piece of paper, scanned it and sent it to Moore. Wooden forms were made by his father, Dan, to replicate the lift struts for construction of the racks.
"I really wouldn't have been able to pull that job off in that time frame without him," Moore said.
He didn't make the Aug. 8 deadline, he said, but 16-hour days and hard work made it to where he was on an airplane headed for Malaysia on Aug. 11. As you could imagine, there was a mix-up at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and the flare racks sat at the airport for two days before being loaded on an aircraft headed to Malaysia.
Moore said once the racks arrived, he was given permission to begin installation of the racks on the Caravan. Because of the quick turnaround and not having an actual Caravan to test the racks, he wasn't sure how things would go once he started the installation.
"Nothing ever goes right on a road job ? ever," he said. "These things fit like a dream. Just perfect."
While the racks fit perfectly, there was a small international incident on Aug. 18 when workers in the maintenance shop arrived for work that Monday morning. Moore said he was given clearance by the contractor to put the racks on, and he needed to get back to Wichita Falls to begin work on the second set of racks for the Cessna 172.
What he didn't know was the maintenance shop wanted to see every step of the installation process because they had some concerns.
"It's going to be all right. This is what we do," he said he told them. "We specialize in this equipment."
Moore said they inspected the aircraft and his work, and eventually approved it.
The 52-inch-long flare racks can hold up to 20 flares each.
- Source: http://www.timesrecordnews.com
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