Salt Lake City Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
Sunday, March 2, 1997 19:13 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight was on a coupled instrument landing system (ILS) approach with 1/2 mile visibility in snow showers. Three successive fixes on the localizer are defined by distance measuring equipment (DME) paired with the ILS; prior to the ILS DME commissioning 6 months before the accident, the DME fixes were defined by a VORTAC 4.7 nautical miles past the ILS DME. The aircraft was 800 feet high at the first fix and 1,500 feet high at the second, but approximately on altitude 4.7 nautical miles past the first and second fixes, respectively. It passed the outer marker 900 feet high and captured the glide slope from above about 1.8 nautical miles from the threshold, 500 feet above decision height (DH) and 700 feet above touchdown. The aircraft was on glide slope for 28 seconds, during which time its speed decayed to stall speed; it then dropped below glide slope and crashed 1.3 nautical miles short of the threshold. The pilot's FLT DIR DME-1/ DME-2 switch, which control the DME display on the pilot's horizontal situation indicator (HSI), was found set to DME-2; the NAV-2 radio was set to the VORTAC frequency. Up to 800 feet may be required for stall recovery.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed on the ILS approach, resulting in a stall. Factors included: low visibility; the pilot's selection of the improper DME for the approach; his resulting failure to attain the proper descent profile for the approach; and insufficient altitude available for stall recovery.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/2/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1913
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City SALT LAKE CITY
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84116
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport SALT LAKE CITY INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SLC
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 168
Airport Elevation 4227
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1927 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 348
Weather Observation Facility ID SLC
Elevation of weather observation facility 4227
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 1100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Obscured
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0.5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 32
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 3709
Intensity of Precipitation Moderate
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 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 3
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1561
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 2 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1855
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 N117WM
NTSB Number SEA97FA067
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model 200
Aircraft Series Identifier 200
Aircraft Serial Number BB-662
Certified Max Gross Weight 12500
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 10
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection May 23 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 174
Airframe Hours 4692
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name COAST HOTELS & CASINOS INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4000 W. FLAMINGO RD.
Aircraft Owner City LAS VEGAS
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89103
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
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 --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Executive/Corporate
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LAS
Departure City LAS VEGAS
Departure State NV
Departure Country
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SLC
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 34R
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --