- Date
- May 14, 1982, 21:56 local (May 15, 1982, 04:56 UTC)
- Place
- Walla Walla, WA
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N175QBeechcraft S35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 14, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820514034569A
- Case key
- 72947
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
While en route on a dark night, the aircraft collided with mountainous terrain in a heavily wooded, snow covered area. An investigation revealed that the plane crashed while in or near level flight at an altitude of about 4500 ft MSL. The top of the mountain was about 5200 ft. there were broken and overcast sky conditions well above the altitude of the crash site. There was no moon on that night and the clouds would have blocked out all reference to the sky. Also, there were no known ground reference lights in the area of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N175Q
- Reported as
- Beechcraft S35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-7441
- Airframe hours
- 3,400
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-B, 280 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John H.W. Smock
- Registered owner
- Merlin Black
- Departed
- Hermiston, OR
- Destination
- Spokane, WA
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 400 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 160° at 2 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 144 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PDT, 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.