Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Battle Mountain, Nevada 89820
Tuesady, May 26, 1987 14:47 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AFTER RECEIVING A WEATHER BRIEFING CALLING FOR MOUNTAINS OCCASIONALLY OBSCURED, OCCASIONAL MODERATE ICING FROM 18000 FT & BELOW, AND CEILINGS ACROSS NORTH & CENTRAL NEVADA, THE NONINSTRUMENT RATED PILOT FILED A VFR FLIGHT PLAN AND DEPARTED SALT LAKE CITY FOR RENO. EN ROUTE PILOT ENTERED IMC MOUNTAINOUS AREA & ATTEMPTED TO CLIMB TO 12000 FT, MINIMUM SAFE IFR ALTITUDE, AFTER COORDINATION WITH CENTER. DURING CLIMB AND WHILE IN IMC LOSS OF CONTROL OCCURRED. AIRCRAFT IMPACTED MOUNTAIN LEDGE IN NOSE LOW INVERTED ATTITUDE AT HIGH SPEED. PILOT HAD NEW AUTOPILOT AND LORAN INSTALLED DAY BEFORE DEPARTING ON ACCIDENT TRIP. DURING STOPOVER AT BATTLE MOUNTAIN FBO TRIED TO CONVINCE PILOT TO DELAY DUE TO POOR WEATHER.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/26/1987
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1447
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City BATTLE MOUNTAIN
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89820
Event Date Year 1987
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 350
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) --
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 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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1461
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 27 1987 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1945
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 34830
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 2:24PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N20FU
NTSB Number SEA87FA102
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name SOCATA
Aircraft Model TB10
Aircraft Series Identifier TB10
Aircraft Serial Number 641
Certified Max Gross Weight 2535
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 May 18 1987 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 100
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name THE FOUR BANISTERS, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 111 DEERWOOD PLACE SUITE 250
Aircraft Owner City SAN RAMON
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94583
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name JAMES A. BANISTER
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 544 RAINSVILLE ROAD
Operator City PETALUMA
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 94952
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 SLC
Departure City SALT LAKE CITY
Departure State UT
Departure Country
Departure Time 1242
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code RNO
Destination City RENO
Destination State NV
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
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 --