- Date
- December 12, 1993, 09:24 local (16:24 UTC)
- Place
- El Paso, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3718XAero Commander 100-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 1, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19931212052609A
- Case key
- 18976
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadvertent flight into clear air turbulence.
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
The pilot lost control of the airplane during an encounter with severe turbulence after crossing a ridgeline perpendicular to his route of flight. The pilot stated that he was in cruise flight at 6500 feet when he encountered the turbulence in clear air. The airplane sustained structural damage, but the pilot was able to land uneventfully.
Factual narrative
On December 12, 1993, at 0924 mountain standard time, an Aero Commander 100-180, N3718X, was substantially damaged following an encounter with severe turbulence while in cruise flight near El Paso, Texas. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the ferry flight.
According to the pilot, he was in level flight at 6,500 feet while en route from Deming, New Mexico, to the Tradewinds Airport, near Amarillo, Texas, when he lost control of the airplane, approximately a half a mile after crossing a ridge line running perpendicular to his route of flight. The pilot further stated that he lost 250 feet of altitude during the encounter with clear air turbulence. After recovering, the pilot diverted to the El Paso International Airport, where an uneventful landing was made.
Damage to the airplane included a cracked windshield, buckling to the leading edge of the right wing, and collapsing of the two inner ribs of the right wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3718X
- Reported as
- Aero Commander 100-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5022
- Airframe hours
- 1,763
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360A2F, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- Reed, James C.
- Registered owner
- J.C Aircraft Marketing Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 10, 1993 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- DMN · Deming, NM
- Destination
- TDW · Amarillo, TX
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 62
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,044 total · 726 in this make and model · 2,044 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ELP, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N3718X · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.