Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Carbonera Mexico
Tuesady, May 20, 1997 18:35 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 20, 1997, at 1835 central daylight time, a Rockwell Commander airplane, N1121F, was destroyed upon impact with terrain following a loss of control while in cruise flight near La Carbonera, Municipality of Pinos, in the State of Zacateca, Republic of Mexico. The airline transport rated pilot, the instrument rated private pilot acting as copilot, and their two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane, owned and operated by a private individual, was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 at the time of the accident. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed throughout the area for the cross country flight from El Paso, Texas, to Toluca, Mexico. An IFR flight plan was filed for the international business flight.
According to ATC data, the flight filed for FL370 for the planned 2 hour flight, later requesting FL410 to navigate around thunderstorm activity. The airplane disappeared from radar when it was approximately 237 nautical miles north of Toluca/Mexico City. The wreckage of the airplane was located by local residents in a remote semi-arid hilly area. The residents reported hearing the sound of impact in the early hours of the evening but were unable to initiate a search due to the severity of the weather in the vicinity of the accident site.
The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Mexico. Any further information may be obtained from:
Subsecretaria de Transportes Direccion General de Aviacion Civil (DGAC) Providencia 807 - Cuarto Piso Colonial del Valle 03100 Mexico, D.F.
This report is for informational purposes only and contains only information released by or obtained for the Government of Mexico.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1835 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | LA CARBONERA |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | MEXICO |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1840 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 7000 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 22 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1505 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2003 12:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1121F |
| NTSB Number | FTW97RA194 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Rockwell |
| Aircraft Model | 1121B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 1121B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 100 CLOCK TOWER PLACE |
| Operator City | CARMEL |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93923 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | Unknown |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ELP |
| Departure City | EL PASO |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MMTO |
| Destination City | TOLUCA |
| Destination State | MX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2000 9:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |