Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Des Moines Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Des Moines, Iowa 50321
Monday, November 25, 1985 17:42 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
N81589 WAS FLWG A BOEING 727 ON ILS APCH IN IFR CONDS. APRX 2.5 MI FM RWY, N81589 SUDDENLY DEVIATED LEFT NRLY 90 DEG. 39 SEC LATER, PLT RPRTD HE ENCTRD SVR TURBC, THEN SAID HE WAS TRYING TO CLB. N81589 SUBSEQUENTLY FLEW THRU TREE TOPS ON RISING TRRN FOR APRX 2 CITY BLKS, THEN HIT PWR LNS & A POLE & CRASHED AGAINST A TREE. NO EVIDENCE OF TURBC DUE TO WX AT/NR APCH ALT. INV SHOWED 4.7 MI SEPN BTN ACFT WHEN THE 727 PASSED THE POINT OF DVN (POD). AT POD, THE 727 WAS ON THE ILS GLIDE SLOPE AT 850'; N81589'S ALT WAS NOT DETERMINED. WND WAS FM 120 DEG AT 3 TO 6 KTS, SHIFTING MORE SOUTHERLY WITHALT. PREVAILING VIS WAS 1/2 MI; RVR FOR RWY 12L WAS 6000'; LGT RIME ICG WAS RPRTD. WITNESSES HEARD PWR INTERUPTION OF 1 ENG AT POD; BUT THERE WAS NO INDCN OF PWR LOSS WHERE ACFT HIT TREES. RADAR DATA SHOWED ACFT SLOWED TO 80 KTS AT POD, ACCELERATED TO 100 KTS DRG DVN, SLOWED TO 70 KTS BFR IMPACT; VMCA WAS 74 KTS. SAFETY BOARD BELIEVES THE PLT MOST LIKELY LOST CONTROL DUE TO SLOW SPD & LGT AIRFRAME ICG; POSSIBLY ENCTRD WAKE TURBC. NO REASON FND FOR LOSS OF ENG PWR.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/25/1985 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1742 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | DES MOINES |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 50321 |
| Event Date Year | 1985 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DES MOINES MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DSM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 333 |
| Airport Elevation | 957 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DSM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 957 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 6000 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 7 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 7 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2896 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 25 1985 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 33552 |
| 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 | N81589 |
| NTSB Number | MKC86MA031 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Rockwell |
| Aircraft Model | 500-S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 500-S |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3297 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6750 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 4 1985 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 3185 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | FLIGHT SR. DEPT.,AMES MUN.ARPT |
| Operator City | AMES |
| Operator State | IA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 50010 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MKE |
| Departure City | MILWAUKEE |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1517 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 12L |
| Runway Length | 9000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |