General Atomics MQ-9 CBP113

Summary

On 7 November 2008 at about 05:36 local time, a General Atomics MQ-9 registered CBP113, operated by US Customs and Border Protection Service, was involved in an accident near Sierra Vista, Arizona, United States. 7 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 November 2008 at 05:36

Classification

Accident

Location

Sierra Vista, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Ft. Huachuca / Sierra Vista (KFHU)

Coordinates

31.5909, -110.1695

Aircraft

General Atomics MQ-9

Registration

CBP113

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

US Customs and Border Protection Service

Operating rule

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sierra Vista → Sierra Vista

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA09FA009

Nobody was injured.

the failure of the pilot to timely flare the aircraft to the appropriate attitude, likely associated with the different sight picture after switching cameras, resulting in a bounced landing; and the evaluator pilot’s lack of timely recognition and intervention. Contributing to the accident was the lack of standards and criteria in the Customs and Border Protection initial and recurrent training program for use of the MTS-B camera.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

At the time of the accident, the flight was operating as a training evaluation mission for a Launch-Recovery Element (LRE) checkride, performing a sequence of touch and go landings on runway 26. The accident landing was the first during this session using the Multi-Spectral Targeting Ball (MTS-B) payload camera vice the fixed nose camera. The payload camera, located about 3 feet lower than the fixed nose camera, produces a different angle and field of view. Additionally, the payload camera is gyro stabilized for mission requirements and gives a different visual perception during landing. The flare during the accident landing was initiated closer to the runway and to less of a nose up attitude than normal. The aircraft bounced and contacted the runway four times, the magnitude of the bounces and pitch excursions dynamically increasing until the nosewheel fractured and the aircraft began to slide. During the bounces, the pilot began to initiate a go-around and at the same time, the evaluator pilot took hold of the control stick in an attempt to correct the bounces; however, the corrective action was too late to prevent the accident. There was no evidence of any pre-existing damage to the nose gear components and no anomalies in the flight controls.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.