Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hungry Horse, Montana 59919
Wednesday, February 21, 1990 19:28 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AIRSPUR FLT 500, A DOMESTIC CARGO FLT, DEPARTED KALISPELL, MT, AT 1903 MDT WITH AN IFR FLT PLAN TO GREAT FALLS, MT. AT 1922, THE PLT NOTIFIED SALT LAKE ARTCC HE WAS RETURNING TO KALISPELL DUE TO A ROUGH RUNNING ENG. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE PLT REPORTED THE ENG HAD FAILED COMPLETELY. THE PLT MADE AN EMERG FORCED LANDING ON A MOUNTAIN RIDGE AT THE APRX 5500 FT LEVEL IN IFR CONDITIONS. ACCIDENT LOCATION WAS APRX 18 NM EAST OF KALISPELL. ENG DISASSEMBLY LATER REVEALED THE #4 CONNECTING ROD HAD FAILED CATASTROPHICALLY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

FAILURE OF THE #4 CONNECTING ROD. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR A FORCED LANDING.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/21/1990
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1928
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City HUNGRY HORSE
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59919
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 2
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 33
Degrees magnetic from airport 107
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1953 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 287
Weather Observation Facility ID FCA
Elevation of weather observation facility 2972
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 27
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 4800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1893
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 121
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 21 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2030
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 40692
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 4:46PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N91146
NTSB Number DEN90LA060
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model T207
Aircraft Series Identifier T207
Aircraft Serial Number 20700090
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Feb 1 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 45
Airframe Hours 10455
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CORPORATE AIR
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 30998
Aircraft Owner City BILLINGS
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59107
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 HSYA
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FCA
Departure City KALISPELL
Departure State MT
Departure Country
Departure Time 1903
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code GTF
Destination City GREAT FALLS
Destination State MT
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 --