Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spokane Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spokane, Washington 99001
Monday, January 8, 1996 19:07 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot (plt) received abbreviated weather (wx) briefing for emergency medical service (EMS)/air ambulance flight (flt). Before flt, he expressed anxiety about possible low visibility for landing & timely transport of dying patient. During ILS runway 3 approach (rwy 3 apch), aircraft (acft) remained well above the glide slope until close to the middle marker; acft's speed decreased from 153 to 100 kts, while vertical speed increased from 711'/min to about 1,250'/min descent. About 1 mi from rwy & 500' agl (in fog), acft abruptly turned left of localizer course & gradually descended with no distress call from plt. Acft hit a pole, then flew into a building & burned. Low ceiling, fog & dark night conditions prevailed. Plt (recent ex-military helicopter plt) had logged/reported 3500 hrs of flt time & about 150 hrs in multiengine airplanes, but there was evidence he lacked experience with actual instrument apchs in fixed-wing acft; he had difficulty with instrument flying during recent training & FAA check flts. No preimpact mechanical problem was found with acft/engines. No ILS anomalies were found. Flt nurse was using cellular phone, but no evidence was found of interference with acft's navigational system. Visibility & ceiling at destination were less than forecast at time of plt's preflt wx briefing. Paramedic was only survivor.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to follow proper IFR procedures, by failing to maintain proper alignment with the localizer course during the ILS approach and/or by failing to follow the proper missed approach procedure. Factors relating to the accident were: darkness; adverse weather conditions; and pressure on the pilot to complete the EMS flight, due to the circumstances and conditions that prevailed.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/8/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1907 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SPOKANE |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99001 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SPOKANE INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GEG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 97 |
| Airport Elevation | 2372 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1905 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 97 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GEG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2372 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 3000 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 34 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1504 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 8 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1945 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N117AC |
| NTSB Number | SEA96FA040 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 401A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 401A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401A0040 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 4 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5800 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RMA, INC.(DBA SPOKANE AIRWAYS) |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 19125 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SPOKANE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99219 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PACIFIC STATES CHARTER SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 505 S. ZINSER |
| Operator City | KENNEWICK |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 99336 |
| Operator Code | PS7A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PSC |
| Departure City | PASCO |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1829 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GEG |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3 |
| Runway Length | 9000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | Medical Emergency |