- Date
- May 6, 1995, 07:10 local (13:10 UTC)
- Place
- Bliss, ID
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3728NBeech 35
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 29, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950506009749A
- Case key
- 42145
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 continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Factors include low ceiling, rain and fog.
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
Witnesses observed the aircraft low to the ground and banking sharply to the left when it went out of sight into fog for an instant and then reappeared still banking. They saw the left wing hit the ground first and then the nose. The witnesses reported the weather to be extremely foggy with light rain and 1/8 to 1/4 mile visibility. The non-instrument-rated pilot stated that he had no memory of the accident.
Factual narrative
On May 6, 1995, approximately 0710 mountain daylight time (mdt), a Beech 35, N3728N, registered to and being flown by a commercial pilot, was destroyed during collision with terrain while maneuvering near Bliss, Idaho. The non-instrument rated pilot sustained serious injuries and reported having no memory of the accident. No flight plan had been filed for the flight which originated at Blackfoot, Idaho, about 0600. Instrument meteoro- logical conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was to have been operated under 14CFR91 and was destined for Midvale, Idaho.
The accident was witnessed by two people driving east on Inter- state 84 (I-84). They reported that the weather was extremely foggy with slight rain, and 1/8 to 1/4 mile visibility and that as they approached an overpass about one mile west of the Bliss exit, they "saw an airplane low to the ground banking sharply to the left just before it reached the overpass. It went into the fog out of sight for an instant then reappeared still banking. Then we saw the left wing hit the ground and the nose hit afterwards."
An FAA inspector conducted an on site examination and reported that the wreckage distribution was parallel and abeam I-84 and progressed for several hundred feet from the point of initial ground contact. One propeller blade was separated at the hub, and no mechanical discrepancies were observed (refer to photo- graphs 1 through 3 and attached statement).
The 0753 Boise aviation weather surface observation (located about 80 miles northwest of the accident site), reported a measured ceiling of 300 foot broken, 800 foot overcast and a visibility of 3 miles in light rain and fog.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3728N
- Reported as
- Beech 35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-937
- Engine
- Continental E-185-8, 185 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Meek, John, C.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 21, 1995
- Departed
- U02 · Blackfoot, ID
- Destination
- OV9 · Midvale, 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
- 57
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,000 total · 650 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,400 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TWF, 40 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.