Roberts Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Melstone, Montana 59054
Thursday, October 21, 1999 14:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that while en route, the engine started to miss. The pilot attempted to trouble-shoot the problem with no success. The pilot opted to divert to a private airstrip that he was unfamiliar with so he set-up for a short field landing. While on short final, the engine missed and the airplane descended in altitude. The altitude was insufficient for the pilot to push the nose down, so the pilot opted to try and arrest the sink rate. The airplane settled to the ground and landed hard about 25 to 50 feet short of the airstrip, collapsing the landing gear. The engine was first inspected, the prepared for an engine run. The engine started on the first attempt and ran smoothly. The magnetos, mixture and fuel pressure were checked and all were found within normal operating parameters.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/21/1999
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City MELSTONE
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59054
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ROBERTS RANCH
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
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 1256 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 196
Weather Observation Facility ID BIL
Elevation of weather observation facility 3649
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 70
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1329
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 21 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1326
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 10:16AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8811M
NTSB Number SEA00LA005
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 Beech
Aircraft Model S35
Aircraft Series Identifier S35
Aircraft Serial Number D-7333
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15
Airframe Hours 3660
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROGER D. BROWN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 908 JET DR.
Aircraft Owner City GLASCOW
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59230
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 BIL
Departure City BILLINGS
Departure State MT
Departure Country
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code GGW
Destination City GLASCOW
Destination State MT
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 12:27PM
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 --