Snake River Skydiving Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Star, Idaho 83669
Tuesady, May 1, 2001 10:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that during the landing roll, the aircraft began to veer to the left. When aileron and rudder control were not effective to re-align the aircraft's direction of travel, the pilot transferred over to the nose wheel steering control. The pilot applied corrective input all the way to the right when he heard a "clink" sound. The aircraft exited the side of the runway and collided with the terrain. Post-accident inspection of the aircraft found that the nose wheel steering cable was broken. The cable was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board Materials Laboratory for examination. The specialist reported that the end of many wires exhibited fractures on a flat plane that was perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, typical of a fatigue crack. About 90 percent of the flat areas extended through the fracture face. The metallurgist reported that approximately 50 percent of the wires from the cable contained fatigue cracking.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Fatigue failure of the nose wheel steering cable during the landing roll. Rough/uneven terrain was a factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/1/2001
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Star
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83669
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Snake River Skydiving Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 2550
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1056 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 110
Weather Observation Facility ID BOI
Elevation of weather observation facility 2868
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 22
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.19
Density Altitude (feet) 2105
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11002
NTSB Notification Source DOI, Office of Aircraft Servic
NTSB Notification Date May 1 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1058
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 14 2001 10:29AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise, Idaho

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N49SJ
NTSB Number SEA01TA083
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Public Use
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name de Havilland
Aircraft Model DHC-6-300
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 423
Certified Max Gross Weight 12500
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 11
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Nov 30 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 42
Airframe Hours 8004
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name US Department of Interior
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2350 W. Robinson Rd
Aircraft Owner City Boise
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83705
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Bureau of Land Management
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 3833 South Development Ave.
Operator City Boise
Operator State ID
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 83705
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) Public Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BOI
Departure City Boise
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 933
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Star
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 10 2002 3:59PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 060
Runway Length 4000
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --