Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Elko Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elko, Nevada 89803
Monday, April 5, 2004 8:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with terrain during the takeoff initial climb. The pilot arrived at the airport the previous day and asked several questions of a locally based flight instructor, saying he was concerned about mountainous operations and leaning the mixture on the engine. A certified flight instructor answered the pilot's questions and felt that the pilot appeared to be a low-time private pilot that had not flown recently. On the accident flight departure, the pilot crossed a runway hold line while taxiing to the runway for takeoff. The air traffic controller queried the pilot and the pilot, who then requested a different runway. During the takeoff roll, the pilot queried the tower controller if there were noise abatement procedures. The airplane traveled approximately 5,000 feet down the 7,214-foot-runway prior to lifting off. It continued down the runway about 12 feet above ground level, and pilot witnesses said the engine did not sound like it was producing full power. The witnesses said the airplane was "wallowing" as it flew down the length of the remaining runway. The airplane barely cleared the airport perimeter fence and touched down about 80 yards from the fence. After the airplane collided with a series of obstacles, a post-impact fire consumed the airplane. Post accident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector prior to disturbance of the wreckage revealed that the cockpit mixture control was approximately 3 inches aft of its full rich position. The engine was installed in an instrumented test cell and it ran smoothly, though it only produced a maximum of 2,550 rpm during the test run. The airport elevation is 5,140 feet msl. Based on the pilot's logbook entries, he had limited mountain flying experience and normally took a southern route when flying across country.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper mixture leaning technique and failure to attain an adequate airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in a stall/mush.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/5/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 820 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Elko |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89803 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404930N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1154730W |
| Event Location Airport | Elko |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EKO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 30 |
| Airport Elevation | 5140 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 756 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EKO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5140 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5100 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17985 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 5 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-RNO-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7923M |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA178 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | V35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-8264 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Morton Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1220 Market Street, Suite 606 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19801 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Lee Morton |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Shrewsbury |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07702 |
| 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 | EKO |
| Departure City | Elko |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 820 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BLM |
| Destination City | Belmar |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2005 5:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 5 |
| Runway Length | 7214 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |