Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lebanon, New Hampshire 24266
Friday, May 17, 1991 8:16 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A 4700 FOOT HIGH MOUNTAIN, ABOUT 200 FEET BELOW ITS TOP DURING CRUISE FLIGHT. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED ABOUT 18 MILES FROM THE DEPARTURE POINT. RECORDED RADAR DATA SHOWED AN AIRPLANE AT ALTITUDE VARYING BETWEEN 4000 AND 5400 FEET MSL, DURING A 10 MINUTE PERIOD, WITH THE DATA ENDING AT 0816 EDT, 16 MIN AFTER DEPARTURE. THE DATA SHOWS THE FLIGHT PATH ROUGHLY CORRESPONDING WITH THE DIRECT ROUTE OF FLIGHT BETWEEN THE DEPARTURE POINT AND DESTINATION, WHICH IS A NORTHERLY COURSE. ANOTHER PILOT WHO FLEW NEAR THE ACCIDENT SITE ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE DEPARTED, REPORTED THE MOUNTAIN WAS OBSCURED BY CLOUDS AT THE TIME. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE DID NOT DISCLOSE EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION. THE PILOT HAD BEEN INACTIVE FROM FLYING FOR ABOUT 17 YEARS. HE RESUMED FLYING ABOUT 2 MONTHS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. DURING WHICH TIME HE ALSO ACQUIRED 3 HOURS OF INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TRAINING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE TERRAIN CLEARANCE. CONTRIBUTING WAS MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, LOW CLOUDS, AND VFR FLIGHT INTO IMC.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/17/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 816 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LEBANON |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24266 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| 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 | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 823 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 111 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11111 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 111 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2305 |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 18 1991 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 50117 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4650G |
| NTSB Number | BFO91FA049 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17273276 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2220 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 16 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 3926 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | B&M LEASING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 270 |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHILHOWIE |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24319 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CLASSIC AIR CHARTER CORP. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 1175 |
| Operator City | ABINDGON |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 24210 |
| Operator Code | |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 6A8 |
| Departure City | ABINGDON |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BKW |
| Destination City | BECKLEY |
| Destination State | WV |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |