Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Jackpot Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jackpot, Nevada 89825
Sunday, July 30, 2000 24:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with terrain after departure on a dark night. A witness watched the airplane depart runway 15 and appear to climb above lights on top of a mountain. The airplane turned left toward the east, and several seconds later it began to lose altitude. The airplane disappeared from sight; then the witness heard the engine rpm increase followed by a "crash sound." The first identified point of ground contact was 0.52 miles from the airport on a magnetic bearing of 105 degrees, and there was zero percent illumination of the moon. An examination of the airframe and engine revealed no catastrophic failures and no anomalies, which would have precluded normal operation of the airplane or engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot inadvertently became lost/disoriented during initial climb and collided with terrain. A related factor was the dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2400 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | JACKPOT |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89825 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415856N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1143949W |
| Event Location Airport | Jackpot |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 06U |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.52 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 105 |
| Airport Elevation | 5213 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2353 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TWF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4151 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 12608 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 30 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2346 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5853Q |
| NTSB Number | LAX00FA283 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 792 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 19 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 70 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN R. APPEL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | JEROME |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83338 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | 06U |
| Departure City | Jackpot |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JER |
| Destination City | JEROME |
| Destination State | ID |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2002 5:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 6200 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |