North American SNJ-5 accident near Raton, NM
On August 25, 2001, a North American SNJ-5 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Raton, NM. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 25, 2001
- Place
- Raton, NM
- Aircraft
- North American SNJ-5 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 36.881°N, 104.441°W
- NTSB ID
- 20010904X01856
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On August 24, 2001, approximately 1930 mountain daylight time, a North American SNJ-5, N2686D, registered to and operated by SNJ Aviation Adventures LLC, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while in an uncontrolled descent 1/2-mile north of the Raton Municipal Airport, Raton, New Mexico. The airline transport certificated pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 91. The flight originated at Raton approximately 1925. On the morning of the accident, the airplane's mechanic flew with the pilot to Raton. He said that as the airplane was taking off from Coronado Airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he could hear the engine detonating. There were no less than 12 witnesses to the accident, 7 of whom submitted written statements, including the accident pilot's wife (who flew a similar airplane in aerobatic routines with her husband), another T-6 pilot, a retired United Air Lines captain, and a YAK-52 pilot. According to the T-6 pilot, he was in his airplane on the ramp. As he watched the SNJ-5 "descending to gain airspeed for [an] entry into a loop," he saw "blackish dark colored smoke coming from the exhaust area of the cowling." The airplane was then "climbing vertically. As [the airplane] approached the top of the loop, [the pilot] said, 'My engine just quit.'" The witness said the pilot turned the airplane "left and down toward the ground and gained enough airspeed to pull out at the
Probable cause
a nonmechanical total loss of engine power for undetermined reasons while performing an aerobatic maneuver, and an inadvertent stall. A contributing factor was the insuffieient altitude to effect a safe recovery.
More accidents in NM
- Gates Learjet 25D, Sep 5, 1993
- Piper PA-32-300, Dec 26, 1982
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- Cessna 421C, Feb 11, 1985
- Beech 58, Mar 26, 1982
Browse: New Mexico · North American aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
