September 20, 1996: Scenic Airlines, Inc., Cessna T207A (N6468H) Arizona Strip near Littlefield, AZ
On September 20, 1996, a Cessna T207A (N6468H) operated by Scenic Airlines was being re-positioned from Grand Canyon Airport in Arizona to St. George, Utah. The flight was conducted at night over mountainous terrain and without passengers.
The flight was apparently uneventful, but for reasons unknown the pilot initiated a decent for landing and continued the decent below the mountainous terrain. The airplane collided with the top of a 4,600 foot bluff killing the pilot, Norman B. Moore.
The NTSB examination of the accident site revealed a 567-foot long wreckage path, oriented along the direct course line from the departure point to the destination. Damage to the engine and propeller indicated that the engine was developing power at impact. The medical investigation revealed that the pilot had a history of transient global amnesia.
The radar track information revealed a steady and constant decent and track across the ground which would have been consistent with the pilot controlling the aircraft throughout the flight (The aircraft was not equipped with an autopilot system). The cause of the accident was never determined, but theories include a sudden debilitating medical condition to just simply falling asleep during the gradual decent into the St. George Airport.
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HISTORICAL SUMMARY:
The accident aircraft involved is familiar to me from my time woking for Lake Powell Air Service/Scenic Airlines. For a Cessna 207, it was a good flying aircraft as I remember. Sometime during 1995 or 1996 the aircraft was re-painted into the then current Scenic Airlines livery.
At the time of the accident I was living in Hurricane, Utah, so visiting this accident site was a simple process of locating the crash site from the air and a few days later driving about 15 miles south of St. George across the Utah/Arizona state-line. The afternoon I visited the crash site, a helicopter had already salvaged the large pieces of wreckage and engine. All that remained was bits of window plexiglass and thin pieces of crushed aluminum. Common debris found in accidents involving general aviation aircraft. The debris that set this accident apart was the many pages of the pilot's Scenic Airlines Operation Manual scattered across the mesa.
First contact with the mesa was found in the form of propeller contact marks on some boulders. The aircraft than made a series of hard cartwheeling impacts along a line of about 600 feet before coming to a rest. There was no evidence of fire at the crash site.
Since my visit, a memorial was placed at the site using lava rocks in the shape of a large heart. In the center spelled out with smaller stones was a message left by a family member "We love you dad".
THE AIRCRAFT:
Cessna T207A (N6468H) was manufactured in 1979 and had accumulated over 10,000 flight hours at the time of the accident.
The aircraft is shown at a stop in Page, Arizona during 1993.
The aircraft was one of several Cessna 207's operated by Lake Powell Air Service that I flew before the company's merger with Scenic Airlines in 1993.
THE PILOT:
Norman Burgess Moore, 68 was a retired airline captain for US Air. Mr. Moore lived in St. George Utah since 1991.
Mr. Moore reported on his medical certificate application that his total aeronautical experience consisted of 23,000 hours.
This aerial photograph taken the day after the accident illustrates two impacts made by the aircraft as it cartwheeled across the mesa.
The fuselage inverted and crushed, a majority of the damage was taken by the forward section of the aircraft. There is no doubt from this photo that the pilot was killed instantly on impact.
The aircraft's Continental TSIO-520 engine separated during the initial impact and was thrown over 500 feet.
The distinctive Scenic Airlines "rainbow" colored rudder appears to have survived the accident.
The wings remained partially attached to the fuselage while the tail section remained for the most part intact.
At night, this 4,600 foot mesa was virtually invisible to the pilot as he decended towards the lights of St. George.
These boulders were the first point of contact made by aircraft's propeller blades. An aluminum transfer made by the spinning propeller can be seen on the rock's surface.
Looking northwest along the initial impact scar.
Looking northwest across the debris path. The aircraft flight path and subsequent ground scars litteraly formed an orientation line directly towards St. George Municipal Airport (KSGU).
The first point of contact was made on the southern edge of the mesa and was glancing strike with the propellers. The initial impact was hard, but few pieces of the aircraft structure were located here.
It was evident on the second impact that the aircraft was beginning to break apart as more aircraft structure and cabin interior components were located along this 300 foot path.
Looking southeast along the debris path and the flight path the aircraft was approaching from.
A page from the pilot's company Operating Manual lies amid brush. One of hundreds of pages thrown across the mesa during the accident.
*THE END*
