Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mt. Charleston, Nevada 89018
Tuesady, October 30, 2001 15:13 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot lost control of his airplane while cruising at 16,000 feet in instrument meteorological conditions. The airplane entered a spin and impacted the ground at 7,100 feet mean sea level. An examination of the airplane wreckage did not reveal any evidence of preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions. About 1 hour prior to departure the pilot had received a weather briefing. The briefer advised the pilot that there was an AIRMET along his proposed route of flight. The AIRMET forecast was for occasional moderate turbulence from the surface to 16,000 feet, and indicated occasional moderate icing in clouds and precipitation from the 12,000 foot freezing level up through 24,000 feet. The airplane was not equipped or certificated for flight into known icing conditions. While en route at 16,000 feet, with an average ground speed of 155 knots, the pilot encountered downdrafts. The pilot broadcast to the radar controller that he was "unable to maintain this altitude with this downdraft," requested permission to descend to 15,000 feet, and was cleared to descend. Recorded radar data indicated that the airplane's course changed from northwesterly to southeasterly, and then northeasterly, while its ground speed gradually decreased to 61 knots. The airplane's last recorded radar position was at 8,800 feet, and the airplane impacted into the underlying terrain within a 50-foot radius of this location. About 2 hours thereafter, another pilot reported experiencing severe turbulence while descending from 16,000 to 13,000 feet over the accident site vicinity.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed after continuing flight into forecast adverse meteorological conditions consisting of turbulence, icing, and downdrafts, which resulted in a stall/spin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/30/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1513 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Mt. Charleston |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89018 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 362146N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1153640W |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1515 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 308 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DRA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3299 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 15197 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 30 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1621 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Las Vegas, NV |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N734VM |
| NTSB Number | LAX02FA018 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | P210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P21000612 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4000 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 18 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3166 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | R.L.B. Enterprises, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Scottsdale |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85260 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Robert L. Byrd, Jr. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FLG |
| Departure City | Flagstaff |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1440 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RNO |
| Destination City | Reno |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2003 5:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |