Cessna 337B N133JW

Summary

On 16 November 2004 at about 23:11 local time, a Cessna 337B registered N133JW was involved in an accident near Drake, Arizona, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 November 2004 at 23:11

Classification

Accident

Location

Drake, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

H.A. Clark Memorial (P32)

Coordinates

35.0208, -112.3683

Aircraft

Cessna 337B

Registration

N133JW

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Williams → Williams

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05FA035

3 people died.

the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed above stall speed while maneuvering at low altitude, which resulted in an accelerated stall and spin. A factor in the accident was the pilot's performance of maneuvering flight at an altitude insufficient to allow for recovery from an accelerated stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The twin-engine airplane impacted terrain while performing a low altitude maneuvering turn. The pilot had been taking hunters on elk scouting flights for a number of days prior to the accident. These flights were conducted below 500 feet above ground level (agl) in the same general area that the accident occurred. A videotape of the airplane on a previous scouting trip shows it flying slightly above the horizon with the landing gear extended over the local desert terrain and ridges. The first identifiable point of impact contained green glass fragments from the right wing position light. The right main landing gear strut was separate from the main wreckage, in the debris field, indicating it was probably deployed, and the flap jackscrew corresponded to a 10-degree flap position. This flight configuration is consistent with the observed configuration of the airplane during previous scouting flights. A handheld global positioning system (GPS) receiver recovered at the accident site recorded the airplane's flight path leading up to the accident. The ground track and speeds recorded by the GPS has the airplane entering a left-hand turn at 70 kts. Halfway through the turn the speed bled down to 59 kts. According to the airplane's Pilot Operating Handbook, a level 30-degree angle of bank turn with the landing gear deployed and the flaps at 8 degrees, the airplane will stall at 66 kts. While in a left-hand turn the airplane experienced an accelerated stall, entered an uncontrolled descent in which the pilot did not have enough altitude to recover from, and impacted terrain in a right wing down attitude. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of a preimpact malfunction or failure of the control system, or power plants.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.