The operator of any aircraft involved in an accident within this state in which any person is killed or injured or damage in excess of four hundred dollars ($400), is sustained to the property of any person, other than property owned by the owner or operator, or in his care, custody or control, or carried in or on the aircraft, shall immediately but not later than 15 days after the accident report the matter in writing to the department. If the operator is physically incapable of making the report, the owner of the aircraft involved in the accident, shall immediately but not later than 15 days after learning of the accident, make the report. If neither the operator nor the owner is physically capable of making the report, then each passenger shall, within 15 days after learning of the incapacity of the operator or owner, make the report. If the owner or operator dies as a result of the accident, the legal representative of the operator or owner shall make the report within 15 days after his qualifications. The sheriff of the county in which the accident occurred, or the chief of police of the city in which the accident occurred, as the case may be, shall notify the department in writing immediately but not later than 15 days after learning of the accident.