Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

El Paso, Texas 79925
Wednesday, October 16, 1985 23:01 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PLT CANCELED HIS IFR FLT PLAN AND ATTEMPTED TO FLY VFR AT A RELATIVELY LOW ALT OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN WITH LOW SCATTERED CLOUDS ON A DARK NIGHT. HE REPORTED A LARGE LIGHTED AREA AS BEING DOWNTOWN EL PASO WHEN IN REALITY IT WAS MOST LIKELY CORONADO HILLS, A DEVELOPMENT ON THE WEST SIDE OF FRANKLIN MOUNTAIN LOCATED APRX 4 MILES NORTH OF THE SOUTH END OF THE MOUNTAIN. THIS WAS PROBABLY DUE TO HAVING JUST DESCENDED FROM IFR CONDITIONS INTO VFR CONDITIONS. HIS FAMILIARITY WITH THE AREA, COMBINED WITH HIS METHOD OF FLT OPERATION (AS RELATED BY A PROFESSIONAL AQUAINTANCE), PROBABLY GAVE A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY AND OVER CONFIDENCE IN HIS PERSONAL ABILITY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/16/1985
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2301
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City EL PASO
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79925
Event Date Year 1985
Event Date Month 10
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 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 2309 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 115
Weather Observation Facility ID ELP
Elevation of weather observation facility 3956
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 22
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 0
Intensity of Precipitation Heavy
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 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2872
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 17 1985 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 110
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 31031
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 9:15AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N23CD
NTSB Number FTW86FA015
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MITSUBISHI
Aircraft Model MU-2B-2D
Aircraft Series Identifier MU-2B-2D
Aircraft Serial Number 142
Certified Max Gross Weight 9920
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Aug 19 1985 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 57
Airframe Hours 4616
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AERO ACTION INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 14 SMALLWOOD PLACE
Aircraft Owner City N. WHITE PLAINS
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 10603
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name AIR EXCHANGE INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 7338 AVIATION PLACE
Operator City DALLAS
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 75235
Operator Code
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 ABQ
Departure City ALBUQUERQUE
Departure State NM
Departure Country
Departure Time 2207
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ELP
Destination City EL PASO
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:36AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --