- Date
- November 5, 1983, 08:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Banner Elk, NC
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N761VKCessna T210M
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19831105057849A
- Case key
- 6232
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Before takeoff, the plt obtained wx for ashville & hickory, NC & for the tri-city arpt, all of which were 30 to 54 mi from Banner Elk, NC. At that time, he told the briefer that there were clouds at Banner Elk, but he thought he could get out all right. The acft departed to the northwest, but crashed a short time later, about 1/2 mi west from the departure end of the rwy. Impact occurred on downhill terrain while in a steep dive on a heading of 160 deg. Elevation of the crash site was estimated to be 3833 ft. some witnesses stated that the eng surged 2 or 3 times, then speeded up & was running at impact. Another witness, a student plt, stated that the eng sounded normal thru-out the flt. All witnesses agreed that the acft was in the clouds prior to the crash. According to an NTSB wx study, the cloud bases would have been at about the 4000 ft level. Witnesses stated that an overcast was aprx 'halfway down the mountain,' obscuring the peaks. No preimpact part failure/malfunction was found. Student plt not endorsed for x-country.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N761VK
- Reported as
- Cessna T210M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21062551
- Airframe hours
- 1,272
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-R, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Conecuh Developers
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · November 3, 1984 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 5A7 · Banner Elk, NC
- Destination
- AWO · Auburn, AL
- Airport
- 5A7 · Elk River, runway 30, 4,600 × 75 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 35
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 498 total · 176 in this make and model · 459 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Observed at
- TRI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.