Beechcraft S35 N8811M

Summary

On 21 October 1999 at about 20:00 local time, a Beechcraft S35 registered N8811M was involved in an accident near Melstone, Montana, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 October 1999 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Melstone, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Roberts Ranch

Coordinates

46.5694, -107.9296

Aircraft

Beechcraft S35

Registration

N8811M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Billings → Glascow

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA00LA005

Nobody was injured.

Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while en route, the engine started to miss. The pilot attempted to trouble-shoot the problem with no success. The pilot opted to divert to a private airstrip that he was unfamiliar with so he set-up for a short field landing. While on short final, the engine missed and the airplane descended in altitude. The altitude was insufficient for the pilot to push the nose down, so the pilot opted to try and arrest the sink rate. The airplane settled to the ground and landed hard about 25 to 50 feet short of the airstrip, collapsing the landing gear. The engine was first inspected, the prepared for an engine run. The engine started on the first attempt and ran smoothly. The magnetos, mixture and fuel pressure were checked and all were found within normal operating parameters.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.