Piper PA-42 accident near Prescott, AZ
On October 18, 2006, a Piper PA-42 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Prescott, AZ. 5 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 18, 2006
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-42 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 5 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.880°N, 112.253°W
- NTSB ID
- 20061026X01561
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 18, 2006, at 1347 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-42 (Cheyenne III), N121CS, was destroyed when its tail section separated in flight while maneuvering about 16 nautical miles northeast of Prescott, Arizona. The airline transport pilot and four passengers sustained fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed by impact damage and post-crash fire. The airplane was registered to Flying Moose LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as an aerial photography flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the local flight that departed the Ernest A. Love Field, Prescott, about 15 minutes before the accident. The intent of the flight was to take aerial photographs of a MiG 21 airplane (N21UT). The pilot of the MiG 21 indicated that he and the Cheyenne pilot discussed the photo flight the day of the accident, and had established 2,500 to 3,000 feet above ground level (agl) as their minimum altitude and 200 knots as their minimum airspeed. The MiG and Cheyenne pilot did not establish a minimum separation distance, as it was not intended to be a formation flight. The MiG pilot reported that they intended on adjusting the in-flight separation as the flight progressed. The MiG pilot reported that he departed the Prescott airport and flew straight out on a northeast heading. On departure, he experienced a problem retracting the landing gear and noted that only the nose landing gear successfully retracted. He recycled the landing gear handle from up to off and back to the up position, and
Probable cause
The failure of the pilot following a jet aircraft to maintain adequate separation from the high velocity jet core exhaust. The separation of the T-tail upper section vertical stabilizer of the following aircraft due to contact with the high velocity jet core exhaust was a factor.
More accidents in AZ
- De Havilland DHC-6-300, Sep 27, 1989
- Cessna 402C, Jun 19, 1992
- Piper PA-31-350, Aug 17, 1983
- Piper PA-31-350, Feb 13, 1995
- Cessna 421C, Sep 2, 1995
Browse: Arizona · Piper 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.
