Pilatus PC-12/47E, Santa Fe, N.M., Sept. 29, 2008– The single-engine turboprop was destroyed and its owner-pilot killed when the aircraft crashed three miles north of its destination of Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF). Darkness prevailed at the time of the accident. The Part 91 personal flight, on an IFR flight plan, originated at Teterboro Airport and made an unscheduled stop at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport for fuel.
According to witnesses, the airplane approached the airport from the southeast and overflew the area on a ground track consistent with a traffic pattern for one of the runways. One witness stated the airplane initiated a left turn toward the airport at which time it pitched down and descended at a “steep angle.”
According to Safety Board estimates, the airplane had flown 100 hours between the time it was sold to the pilot and the accident, and had an estimated total airframe time of 130 hours. The 54-year-old pilot held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land and instrument ratings. A review of the digital logbook provided by his family revealed the pilot had logged 2,437 hours total flight time; 1,456 hours in turbine aircraft, 86.5 hours in the Pilatus PC-12/47E, 14 hours in a Pilatus simulator, and 85 hours of night flight experience, 2.4 hours of which were in the PC-12.