Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Damascus, Oregon 97236
Wednesday, October 22, 1997 21:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to radar data, the airplane, which had been acquired earlier that day by the pilot, descended slowly from level flight at 1200 feet MSL to 800 feet MSL before disappearing from radar. Wreckage was located in the immediate vicinity of the last radar target. Witnesses reported a loss of electrical power in their homes, followed by the sound of an increase in engine power from the airplane immediately before final impact. The crash occurred in dark night conditions on rising terrain. The airplane's heading was direct toward an airport with an operating control tower; an attempt had been made to initiate radio contact. Weather at nearby reporting stations was marginal for VFR flight operations. The airplane's equipment list noted navigational equipment sufficient for a non-precision instrument approach. No pre-crash mechanical deficiencies were noted during the investigation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient altitude/clearance from terrain. Factors relating to the accident included: darkness, and hilly/mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/22/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2135 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | DAMASCUS |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97236 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| 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 | 2251 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TTD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 35 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1252 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 22 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N714 |
| NTSB Number | SEA98LA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 185A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 185A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 185-0448 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3250 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 3 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TEXAS REGIONAL AIRCRAFT, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2316 BAYNARD BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19802 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ROGER C. SNYDER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 17620 SE 299TH PL |
| Operator City | KENT |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 98042 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | PLACERVILLE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | KENT |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |