- Date
- October 3, 1992, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Elko, NV
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N33317Bellanca 17-31ATC
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921003039889A
- Case key
- 27803
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 failure of the pilot to obtain an adequate preflight weather brieifing and the pilot's decision to continue flight into forecast adverse weather conditions. Contributing to the accident was the prevailing icing, clouds, and rain weather conditions.
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 investigation revealed the aircraft descended vertically out of an overcast ceiling and collided with mountainous terrain. A witness reported the visibility to be 1/2 to 1 mile in light rain and the temperature on the ground 40 to 50 degrees fahrenheit at the time of the accident. The witness also reported that the tops of the highest hills in the area were obscured by clouds and overcast skies 'with few if any breaks [in the overcast].' There was no record of the pilot receiving a weather briefing from any facilities of the FAA or duats. Several airmets were issued for icing, turbulence and cloud layers which were forecasted along the airplane's direct route of flight. The accident airplane was not certified or equipped for flight in icing conditions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N33317
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-31ATC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 73-31069
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1E5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Thunderbird Air, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Thunderbird Air, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- TWF · Twin Falls, ID
- Destination
- TRK · Truckee, CA
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.