Crash location | 32.368611°N, 109.566111°W |
Nearest city | Bowie, AZ
32.326465°N, 109.487009°W 5.5 miles away |
Tail number | N259L |
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Accident date | 19 Oct 2017 |
Aircraft type | Peterson Lancair Legacy |
Additional details: | None |
On October 19, 2017, about 0830 mountain standard time, a Peterson Lancair Legacy 2000, N259L, departed controlled flight and collided with desert terrain near Bowie, Arizona. The pilot/builder was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was substantially damaged. The personal cross-country flight departed from Eagle Roost Airpark, Aguila, Arizona about 0710 with a planned destination of Garner Field, Uvalde, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and it is not known if the pilot had filed a flight plan.
The airplane was based in Aguila and the pilot had planned to attend a fly-in over the weekend in Uvalde, about 745 nm southeast. The pilot had registered for the event a few weeks before the accident and located in the wreckage was a flight plan outlining the intended flight to Uvalde. The flight plan showed that the pilot departed at 0710 and had reached his next planned checkpoint of Buckeye VORTAC at 0739; the next listed checkpoint was San Simon VORTAC.
A witness observed the airplane flying along the ridgeline of the Fisher Hills and begin a series of erratic maneuvers, subsequently diving toward the terrain. The wreckage was located about 17 nm northwest of San Simon VORTAC at an elevation of about 3,860 feet msl. The accident site was located in sparsely populated desert terrain, with the debris stretching over 120 feet with the energy path oriented on a heading of about 155o. In character, the terrain was comprised of dirt and rocks, populated by scattered brush and cactus typical of the southern Arizona region.
The wreckage was transported to a recovery facility for further examination.