Accident Lockheed SP-2H Neptune N442NA,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 321522

Date:	Saturday 25 April 2009
Time:	10:04
Type:	Lockheed SP-2H Neptune
Owner/operator:	Neptune Aviation Services
Registration:	N442NA
MSN:	726-7286
Total airframe hrs:	3554 hours
Engine model:	Westinghouse J34-WE-36
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Substantial, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	2,7 km N of Stockton, UT - United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	Missoula Airport, MT (MSO/KMSO)
Destination airport:	Alamogordo Municipal Airport, NM (ALM/KALM)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune, N442NA, impacted the terrain about one and one-half mile north of Stockton, Utah. The two airline transport pilots and their passenger were killed in the accident, and the airplane was substantially damaged by the impact sequence. The airplane was owned and operated by Neptune Aviation Services, and dispatched as the result of the issuance of a Resource Order (Aircraft) issued by the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC). The repositioning flight, which departed Missoula, Montana, about two hours prior to the accident, was en route to Alamogordo, New Mexico. At the time of the accident, the airplane was flying in an area of low ceilings and restricted visibility. No flight plan had been filed with the Federal Aviation Administration, but a company flight plan was on file with NICC.

Probable Cause: "The flight crew's failure to maintain terrain clearance during low altitude flight in low ceiling and visibility conditions. Contributing to the accident was the flight crew's failure to adequately monitor their location with respect to the rising terrain environment ahead, and, their lack of crew resource management communication as a crew."

Accident investigation: