December 10, 1991: Las Vegas Airlines, Inc., Piper PA-31-350 (N350MR) Mount Wilson, AZ
Braxton “Perry” Smallwood age 44, loved to fly. As a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, he flew F-111’s based in Turkey and F-16’s at nearby Nellis Air Force Base during his 20 year military career. After honorably retiring from duty and an 8-year hiatus from aviation, Smallwood was hired by Las Vegas Airlines in February 1991 to fly sightseeing air tours over the Grand Canyon.
Over the preceding ten months with Las Vegas Airlines, Smallwood would gain experience by either observing or flying to and from North Las Vegas Airport and Grand Canyon Airport. The tour itinerary was simple, air tour over, stopping at the canyon’s south rim to look over the edge, buy souvenirs, have lunch, and then a quick direct flight back to Las Vegas. Most tourists, exhausted from the long day, would sleep on the return leg.
On December 10, 1991, Captain Smallwood departed Grand Canyon Airport with four French tourists. The 3:00 PM return departure was made in relatively clear weather. The flight was uneventful as Smallwood approached Temple Bar Marina. Off the nose, a band of low clouds, heavy rain and low visibility replaced the canyon’s blue skies. Flying over Lake Mead and dodging clouds, Smallwood was trying to find a break in the weather, but It just wasn’t there.
With only 35 miles from the destination, the push for Smallwood to “press on” was no doubt with him. Compounding the pressure was the incentive to complete the flight as Las Vegas Airline’s policy was that pilots were only paid if they made it to the destination (An issue in the 1983 accident investigation of Las Vegas Airlines Flight 88).
Air Traffic Controllers in Las Vegas watching the Piper’s wandering and spotty radar track, cleared the flight into controlled airspace. Shortly thereafter, controllers noticed the flight turn south and descend towards the eastern ridge of Mount Wilson. Minutes passed with controller’s repeated and unsuccessful attempts to contact the flight. A missing aircraft alert was issued, but with low clouds, low visibility, and increasing darkness, the search would have to wait until morning. At daybreak the wreckage was located on the 4,800 foot level of Wilson Ridge. There were no survivors in this Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accident.
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Historical Summary:
To call this a Grand Canyon mishap is a stretch in geography, but in the days following the accident, the news media, hungry to fuel the ongoing air tour debate labeled the tragedy a “Grand Canyon Accident” ignoring the fact that it occurred forty miles west of the park’s boundaries. I will include it as Grand Canyon Aviation Archaeology to maintain the historical context.
Locating this accident site was difficult. The one large fragment remaining at the site blends in easily with the terrain and during certain times of the day with either light or shadow is completely invisible from the air. I was fortunate to have a private aircraft available when I spotted the wreckage on an overcast day. The crash site is located on a very steep and unstable topography of loose rock and boulders. Often the slope grade exceeded 65 degrees.
Unlike the wreckage of Las Vegas Airlines Flight 88 in Grand Canyon, most of the wreckage from LVA Flight 50 was recovered. Absent is the aircraft's tail section, most wing structures, landing gear, seats, and both engines. The remaining wreckage is comprised of a few fragments of fuselage and wing structure, engine components, cockpit components, and personal effects. An intense burn area and debris scatter was present during my visit.
LAS VEGAS AIRLINES - 1991
The airline was founded in 1973 by Donald Donohue Sr. to provide charter service and air tours of the Grand Canyon. The business was always prosperous, but by 1991 the airline had faced three fatal accidents, problems with maintenance, inadequate pilot training, and a developing bad reputation with the local FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO).
Maybe it was bad timing, bad luck, or a combination of both, but for Don Donohue it seemed as though he would settle one lawsuit and the very next day his company would experience another accident.
AIRCRAFT INVOLVED
The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft in 1966 for the general aviation market. Production of the PA-31 ceased in 1984.
The aircraft involved in this mishap was a PA-31-350 Chieftain (N350MR), msn: 31-7652100. The aircraft was manufactured in 1976 and was powered by two Lycoming TIO/LTIO-540 turbocharged engines each developing 350 hp.
Even though the aircraft was equipped to fly in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), the aircraft was not certified for it and was placarded "Instrument Flight Prohibited".
THE ACCIDENT
At 3:00 PM, Las Vegas Airlines Flight 50 (LVA50) departed Grand Canyon National Park Airport for North Las Vegas Airport. The 1 hour 15 minute trip was intended to be a direct flight.
With decreasing visibility and low cloud ceilings, Captain Smallwood diverted in a southerly direction from Lake Mead to the rising terrain of Wilson Ridge.
This rugged 20 mile escarpment of steep desert peaks is known officially on the map as Mount Wilson, but area pilots refer to it as "Wilson Ridge".
The ridgeline with a summit of 5,445 feet encompasses both Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land (Mount Wilson Wilderness Area) and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
LOCATING THE CRASH SITE
For many years I have attempted to locate the crash site of LVA50, but was never able to spot wreckage debris due to the light colored terrain, shadows and consistent poor lighting on the ridge.
On December 15, 2011, overcast conditions and balanced lighting were favorable enough for me to finally spot what I believed was wreckage (or something) on the eastern slope.
The fragment was the only wreckage visible on my circling orbits in the aircraft. It was worth taking a closer look from the ground.
VISITING THE CRASH SITE - JANUARY 2012
After studying the aerial photos I felt pretty confident that I had found the crash site of LVA50, but in the back of my mind I was constantly thinking how foolish I am going to look hiking miles up the face of this mountain to see an odd-shaped rock or someone's discarded trash.
I decided to bring along the ATV to get me through any possible rough areas on the road.
Once I parked the ATV, the initial terrain that I hiked was relatively easy.
A few short breaks in the cool morning air made the hike up the mountain a pleasant experience.
From the distance I could see that the easy sloping terrain would soon give way to rocky gulleys and dry washes.
EARLY HISTORIC VISITORS
An early visitor to this area, probably a prospector scratched his initials on this rock in September 1915.
Near the inscription I found the remnants of an old mining camp,
This arastra was used by prospectors to crush ore and obtain valuable minerals. It appeared the mining camp was lightly used.
PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE
This area of Mohave County is rich in archaeological resources, so it was of little surprise that I would find a panel of well preserved petroglyphs on my hike up Wilson Ridge.
There is no doubt that this place is crawling with poisonous reptiles in warmer months. The deadly Mohave Green Rattlesnake is quite common in this region.
Approaching the eastern slope of the ridge, I spot a small metallic reflection in the distance that required closer inspection.
CRASH SITE LOCATED
A hard 45-50 degree angle climb from the gulley revealed that the reflection was a mount that once supported a Lycoming aircraft engine.
After several years of on and off searching I finally located the crash site of LVA50!
Small fragments of wreckage littered the site with many fragments concealed around and under boulders and rocks.
The yellow circle illustrates the approximate location of the LVA50's point of impact (POI) several hundred feet above from where the first piece of wreckage was found.
From this point on, the slope of the mountain begins to steepen to around 60-70 degrees. The terrain is so unstable that literally every rock I step on either slides or falls from under my feet.
It was clear that much of the wreckage was salvaged shortly after the accident. Several separated engine components were located at the site such as this cylinder.
This engine cylinder valve cover was nearly torn in half from the impact.
A Garrett Airesearch Turbocharger exhibited few signs of damage in the accident.
Each engine on the Piper Chieftain had one turbocharger installed. They are used to maintain engine performance at higher elevations.
A mangled engine oil cooler was located a short distance from the turbocharger.
A data tag on the oil cooler identifies the manufacturer as Harrison Industries.
This center wing spar structure was damaged by both impact and fire.
That oddly shaped wreckage fragment that I photographed from the air a few weeks prior to my visit turned out to be a large wing section from the aircraft.
The compressed "accordion" like crush pattern on the wing's leading edge reminded me of wing fragments found at the Las Vegas Airlines Flight 88 crash site in the Grand Canyon.
This wing leading edge was flattened out by the impact. Attached to the fragment was a piece of the rubber de-ice boot.
A maintenance instructional placard from a wing tank fuel line check valve.
This lower fuselage panel fragment includes a cooling vent sub-panel.
The inner door from the left main landing gear shows signs of direct forward impact. It was thrown clear of the fire as it exhibited no signs of fire damage.
An un-damaged example of the left main landing gear inner door on a Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain.
These hydraulically actuated doors are normally closed except during the landing gear extension and retraction sequence. They can also be mechanically opened on the ground if needed for maintenance inspections.
A thank you to American Aviation of Page, Arizona for allowing me to examine and technically photograph their Piper Chieftain for this study.
This outer door was attached to one of the main landing gear legs.
The main landing gear outer door is a "fixed" type door that is attached directly to the landing gear leg.
The aileron trim tab was barely recognizable. In a catastrophic accident such as this, the aileron trim tab can be confused with the elevator trim/anti-servo tab. The big difference is the larger attach point on the aileron's tab.
The aileron trim tab located on the right wing assists in reducing roll control forces.
A manufacture's data tag from the aircraft's KI-225 Automatic Direction Finder (ADF) Indicator is partially readable.
The remainder of the ADF system that I found included the King KR-85 receiver that was still attached to it's mounting tray.
An undamaged example of the King Radio Corp. KR-85 ADF receiver and the KI-225 indicator that was installed on the accident aircraft.
Some of the vinyl interior fabric from the passenger cabin had evidence of heat damage, but for the most part this fragment escaped much of the fire.
This passenger convenience reading light fixture was originally mounted to the upper interior cabin ceiling of the aircraft.
The aircraft was equipped with an over-wing emergency exit located on the right hand side of the fuselage.
I located Flight 50's emergency exit about 100 feet below the point of impact.
An over-wing emergency exit on a Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain.
I found this panel fragment that had a seat rail pierced thru it. A graphic example of the tremendous impact forces involved in this accident.
This cluster of burned D-Cell batteries located near the main impact point once powered the aircraft's Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT).
The ELT had activated at the moment of impact and the transmitted signal helped search and rescue narrow the aircraft's ultimate location. The signal eventually stopped transmitting early in the search effort.
This evidence illustrates the ELT was ultimately consumed in the post-crash fire.
MAIN IMPACT SITE
At an elevation of roughly 4,800 feet, I reached point of impact for the aircraft. The location was marked by evidence of an intense fire that had burned though the night of the accident
Much of the burned debris is located along 40-50 feet of relatively steep terrain.
This Piper Aircraft Corporation's part ID tag uses a part number to identify the component. In the case of this tag, the number traces back to the Left Wing Flap Assembly.
Puddles of molten aluminum could be found in rock and boulder crevices everywhere at the impact site.
Amid the molten aluminum, I located this small cargo strap buckle.
With a few years of flying these particular aircraft, I recognized these small straps. They were commonly used to secure items in the two nacelle wing lockers.