| Date: | Saturday 27 June 1998 |
| Time: | 20:24 |
| Type: |  Lockheed SP-2H Neptune |
| Owner/operator: | Neptune Aviation Services |
| Registration: | N14835 |
| MSN: | 726-7250 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1961 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 7815 hours |
| Engine model: | Wright R-3350-32WA Cyclone |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Reserve, NM -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Fire fighting |
| Departure airport: | Silver City-Grant County Airport, NM (SVC/KSVC) |
| Silver City-Grant County Airport, NM (SVC/KSVC) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The crew of N14835 (call sign "Tanker 08") had been engaged in fire fighting operations in the Gila National Forest all day. The first officer, an initial attack trainee pilot, was in the left seat. The pilot in command was in the right seat.
The crew made a dry pass on the fire zone, then circled around to make a second pass and release its load of 2,450 gallons of retardant. According to witnesses, the airplane struck trees while in a nose low, right wing low attitude. Upon ground impact, the airplane exploded and burned. Investigation revealed no evidence of preimpact airframe, engine, propeller, or flight control failure/malfunction.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "Failure of the copilot to maintain both lateral and vertical clearance from the trees, and failure of the captain to provide adequate supervision of the flight."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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