Beechcraft F-33A N3172P

Summary

On 15 August 2001 at about 14:00 local time, a Beechcraft F-33A registered N3172P was involved in an accident near Mobile, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 August 2001 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Mobile, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

32.9806, -112.2397

Aircraft

Beechcraft F-33A

Registration

N3172P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Goodyear → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01FA279

2 people died.

The flying pilot's initiation of an intentional maneuver at an altitude inadequate to maintain terrain clearance. Low altitude flight was a contributing factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with terrain while on a low level navigation exercise and was almost totally consumed in a postcrash fire. The pilots were members of the German Air Force (GAF) and the flight was a low level navigation mission as part of an initial air force pilot training course. The flight syllabus called for the flight to complete the route at 500 feet agl. Another airplane with two GAF instructors aboard departed immediately after the accident airplane. The two instructors in the second airplane initially flew north of the standard route and then turned south to intercept it. They were about 1,500 agl. As they turned south, they observed the accident airplane proceeding on a southeasterly course. Both instructors said that they were looking down at the other airplane, and both estimated its altitude was 500 to 700 agl. Both instructors said the accident airplane was in straight and level flight on a southeasterly heading. As the airplane crossed the ridge, the airplane went from straight and level to a 30- to 40-degree angle of bank. The bank angle seemed to increase to 60 degrees and continued to 135 degrees as the nose went down. It appeared to the pilot in the left seat that the maneuver was abrupt, but he saw nothing to account for it. He didn't observe any obstacles to avoid, any smoke or flames coming from the airplane prior to impact, and he did not see anything falling from the airplane. The weather was clear and there was no turbulence. The airplane came to rest in an upright position. Vegetation ranging between 3 and 20 feet in height, and within 5 to 30 feet both behind and in front of the wreckage, was scorched but undamaged. Examination of the wreckage and ground scars disclosed that the airplane impacted the hillside in an attitude level with the slope and with a large vertical energy vector. Pieces of airframe and debris that came to rest outside of the charred areas were not sooty or discolored. Control continuity existed from the control surfaces to the thermally destroyed cabin area. There was no evidence of a catastrophic engine malfunction.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.