- Date
- October 29, 1992, 09:54 local (17:54 UTC)
- Place
- Ely, NV
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N102FBeech D50A
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921029047429A
- Case key
- 27811
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
1) The pilots decision to attempt VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which included mountain obscurement and severe mixed icing, and, 2) his failure to maintain control of the aircraft due to a probable aerodynamic stall induced by severe airframe icing. Factors in the accident were: 1) the forecast weather conditions of icing, low cloud ceilings and mountain obscuration, and 2) the pilots failure to obtain either preflight or inflight weather information for his route of flight.
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 and passenger departed southern California for Idaho. En route they stopped on the outskirts of las vegas where there was a dirt landing strip. The next morning a witness saw the airplane depart at about 0800 hours. There was no flight plan filed nor any record of either a preflight or inflight weather briefing. The airplane never arrived at the destination. The airplane was located by a Nevada fish and game helicopter about 21 days after it had disappeared. The airplane had impacted a mountain at about 8300 feet MSL, in a near vertical attitude at great speed. Weather data revealed that in the area of the accident the ceiling was overcast at 2700 feet AGL, with tops from 17000 to 19000 feet MSL and severe mixed icing was present above the 9,500 foot MSL freezing level. The airplane had no deice or antiice equipment, the oxygen system was inoperative at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N102F
- Reported as
- Beech D50A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- DH-173
- Airframe hours
- 4,575
- Engine
- Lycoming IGSO-540-B1A, 380 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James L. Richards
- Registered owner
- James L. Richards
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 22, 1992
- Departed
- 0L7 · Jean, NV
- Destination
- S67 · Nampa, ID
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
- 58
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 10 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ELY, 6 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.