Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Detroit, Oregon 97342
Thursday, May 6, 1999 19:14 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot, who was not instrument-rated, reported that he obtained his preflight weather information from The Weather Channel on television. He was subsequently unable to land at his destination due to high crosswind conditions associated with a cold frontal passage, and attempted to return to his departure airport. While en route back to the departure airport, the pilot encountered a snowstorm, entered instrument meteorological conditions, and became lost. He called for emergency assistance on several frequencies and was finally assisted in contacting ATC by another aircraft. However, before ATC could vector him to a suitable airport, the airplane iced up and eventually lost engine power (the pilot reported he thought he was out of fuel at this time, which was approximately 4 hours after the pilot's reported takeoff time.) A few seconds prior to the loss of power, the pilot had also turned carburetor heat off. The airplane subsequently crashed onto a mountainside. The airplane's emergency locator transmitter signal aided search and rescue forces in locating the downed aircraft, and the seriously injured pilot was rescued approximately 17 hours after the crash.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, eventually resulting in a non-mechanical loss of engine power. Factors were: the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and preparation; a snowstorm with icing conditions; the pilot becoming lost; and mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/6/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1914 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | DETROIT |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97342 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| 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 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1906 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 6 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2005 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3381J |
| NTSB Number | SEA99LA058 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150G |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15066081 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| 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 | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JACK'S AIRCRAFT SERVICES INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1600 AIRWAY RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | LEBANON |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97355 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S30 |
| Departure City | LEBANON |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 6S4 |
| Destination City | GATES |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| 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 | -- |