Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bellevue, Idaho 83313
Wednesday, November 19, 2003 18:25 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The accident airplane departed Boise, Idaho, about 1745 for a planned flight to Hailey, Idaho. No flight plan was filed for the flight. At 1816:27 the pilot contacted the Hailey tower and reported that he was ten west of the Hailey non-directional beacon, and at 1816:33 the controller instructed the pilot to report a 3 mile final for runway 31. At 1818:38 the pilot informed the controller, "...we're gonna do a three sixty out here and lose altitude if that's ok," which the controller approved. At 1823:22 the controller requested the pilot's position. The pilot replied he was about 5 miles from the field at 7,500 feet and "...getting set up again." At 1823:30 the controller cleared the flight to land on runway 31, and at 1823:34 the pilot made a partial reply of, "...clear ta..." There were no further communications with the pilot. At 2113 an ALNOT was issued for the missing aircraft. Approximately 1600 on November 24, 2003, the wreckage was located by local search and rescue personnel on the northeast side and 307 feet below the summit of Lookout Mountain, elevation 7,539 feet above mean sea level. Lookout Mountain is located about 6 nautical miles southeast of the Hailey airport. Terrain rises to 7,988 feet above mean sea level (MSL) within 5 nautical miles east of the accident site, and to 8,468 feet MSL within about 5 nautical miles north of the accident site. The airplane had impacted steep rising mountainous terrain on a southwesterly heading in a slightly right wing low, level pitch attitude. Investigators did not find any evidence of pre-impact mechanical or structural malfunctions of the aircraft during post-accident examinations. Dark night visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident, with broken clouds at 11,000 feet MSL near the destination. The pilot of an aircraft in front of the accident aircraft reported that winds aloft and en route before turning onto the final approach course were at least 50 knots from the west and that while on final approach he had to hold a significant crab into the wind from the west to keep lined up with the runway. Another pilot in the area, a flight instructor, said he experienced a wind shear condition on final.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude above mountainous terrain while maneuvering during descent. Factors included the mountainous terrain, the high wind condition, and dark night light conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/19/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1825
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Bellevue
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83313
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 432647N
Event Location Longitude 1141308W
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 Partial - limited by pilot
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1745 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 300
Weather Observation Facility ID SUN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5319
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 5700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5700
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 5
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.9
Density Altitude (feet) 5491
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) 16419
NTSB Notification Source FAA Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Nov 19 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2030
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
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 N5244A
NTSB Number SEA04FA020
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T210N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21063324
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 10 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4587.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name James J. Woodyard
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Ketchum
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83340
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
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) Personal
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 1745
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SUN
Destination City Hailey
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 5 2004 3:31PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --