N46874

On February 3, 1995, at 1117 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 152, N46874, collided with the terrain short of runway 03 at Sedona Airport, Sedona, Arizona. The pilot was completing a visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, operated by Scottsdale Flyers, Scottsdale, Arizona, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot and his passenger received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Scottsdale Airport at 1010 hours.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported that the pilot said he encountered a "severe downdraft" while on final approach. The pilot could not arrest the downdraft and the airplane collided with the down-sloping terrain short of the runway threshold.

The pilot repeated his statement in the aircraft accident report. He added, however, that while on final approach, the flaps were fully extended (30 degrees). When the airplane encountered the downdraft, he raised the flaps to 20 degrees, applied full power, and then turned off the carburetor heat.

The pilot raised the nose to attain the best angle of climb (Vx) airspeed, but without success; the airplane continued descending. He continued to raise the nose to arrest the descent until the stall warning horn sounded. At this point, the pilot lowered the airplane nose and the airplane collided with the terrain.

The airport is situated on a mesa and the threshold of runway 03 is about 150 feet northeast of the mesa drop-off. The airport manager said in a telephone interview conducted on April 25, 1995, that several airplanes landed at the airport before and after the accident. He said that the UNICOM operator advised all arriving airplanes of the prevailing strong winds.

The manager also said the pilot told him that he intended to fly the approach above the operating visual approach slope indicator and land beyond the threshold. The pilot also said that "he lost control of the airplane."