Rockwell 500-S accident near Baker City, Oregon, January 19, 2002
On January 19, 2002 at about 1:15 am local time, a Rockwell 500-S, registered N1187G, was substantially damaged in an accident near Baker City, Oregon (Baker City Municipal airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's excessive descent rate at the time the aircraft came in contact with the runway during a night precautionary landing. Factors include extensive airframe ice accumulation, ice accumulation on the flight compartment windshield, ambient conditions conducive to airframe icing, a dark night, and a snow bank along the edge of the runway.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 19, 2002 · about 1:15 am local time
- Place
- Baker City, Oregon · Baker City Municipal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Rockwell 500-S
- Registration
- N1187G · no longer on the register · serial 3180
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While en route on an IFR flight plan, the aircraft encountered ambient conditions that resulted in extensive ice accumulation on the airframe structure. Because the pilot was unable to maintain the required minimum altitude on the next leg of the flight, he elected to divert into a nearby airport. After getting below the overcast clouds, he shot a visual approach on a very dark night while looking through a partially ice-covered windshield. During the attempted landing, the pilot allowed the aircraft to contact the runway at a descent rate high enough to cause permanent structural damage to the aircraft's fuselage, and to permanently force the left main landing gear oleo strut to its fully compressed limit. The force of the impact also caused the tire support rim on the nose wheel to fracture into several pieces that were later recovered from the runway. After the rim separated from the main nose wheel drum, the drum portion of the wheel rolled along inside the tire. As the landing roll continued, the aircraft departed the runway and plowed through an 18 inch-high snow bank created by snow that had be removed from the runway. As the aircraft passed through the snow bank, the nose gear strut down-lock failed, and the nose gear was forced backwards and up into the wheel well. The collapse of the nose gear strut allowed the belly skin just aft of the nose gear well to come in contact with the snow bank, which resulted in the belly skin being pushed inward around the fuselage bulkheads.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 9,500 hours in all; 500 in this make and model; 10 in the last 90 days; 9,400 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: March 31, 2000
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (expired)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,498 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, April 12, 2001; 78 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,750 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-E1B5 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: TIW Tacoma WA
- Destination: SUN Hailey ID
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 30, 5,095 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 7,000 ft
- Temperature: 28°F (-2°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.