- Date
- April 8, 1988, 21:25 local (Apr 9, 1988, 03:25 UTC)
- Place
- Soda Springs, ID
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N291NCAero Commander 680FL
- Weather
- Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 3, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880408048959A
- Case key
- 40720
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 night IFR cargo flt, the plt reqd & was clrd for a dscnt from an IFR cruise alt of 16,000 ft to proceed vfr-on-top. The last transmission from the acft was at 2106 when the plt acknowledged that he was familiar with the terrain along the route. At 2121:51 MDT, radar contact was lost after the acft made an aprx 360 degree left turn & descended thru 13,800'. Shortly after that, the controller tried to call the plt to inform him that radar contact was lost, but was unable to make radio contact. Later, wreckage of the acft was found where it had crashed about 2 mi sw of were radar contact was lost. The wreckage was scattered over an area of more than one mile. An investigation revealed the left wing & rgt horizontal stabilizer had sepd upward from overload. No pre-acdnt fatigue or part failure/malfunction was fnd. Wx rprts & pireps indcd moderate turbc & towering cumulus clouds in the area. Aprx 60 mi west at pocatello, ID, snow showers were rprtd; 2 to 3 inches of snow fell on the wreckage overnight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N291NC
- Reported as
- Aero Commander 680FL
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1461 86
- Airframe hours
- 11,873
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-720-B1B, 400 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Inter American Leasing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · March 16, 1988 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- BIL · Billings, MT
- Destination
- SLC · Salt Lake City, UT
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 34
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,013 total · 50 in this make and model · 157 in the last 90 days · 34 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Night/dark
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PIH, 60 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 N291NC · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.