- Date
- November 30, 1990, 18:41 local (Dec 1, 1990, 02:41 UTC)
- Place
- Ryderwood, WA
- Injuries
- 5 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N400NAero Commander 690A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901130052259A
- Case key
- 41299
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 improper inflight planning and failure to maintain proper altitude in mountainous terrain at night.
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
As the flt was apchg the destn, at ngt, the plt obtained vectors for a dscnt over mountainous terrain. During the apch, he cancelled the IFR flt plan & the acft dsndd below radar coverage. Subsequently, the acft crashed in mountainous terrain, northwest of the destn arpt. Impact occurred in a wooded area at an elevation of about 2700 ft. the ELT did not activate during the acdnt. A search was initiated on 12/1/90, but the acft & surviving passenger were not fnd until the next day. The canadian ATP plt & other 4 passengers were fatally injured. After initial impact with trees, the main portion of the fuselage traveled about 1000 ft before coming to rest. No preimpact mechanical problem was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N400N
- Reported as
- Aero Commander 690A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 11156
- Engine
- Garrett TPE-331, 717 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Aero Air
- Destination
- KLS · Kelso, WA
- 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
- 47
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 11,714 total · 2,647 in this make and model · 10,976 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,200 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KLS, 16 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.