North American NA-265-40 accident near Hailey, Idaho, March 20, 1997
On March 20, 1997 at about 2:16 pm local time, a North American NA-265-40, registered N123CD, was substantially damaged in an accident near Hailey, Idaho (Friedman Memorial airport). It was a business 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).
Preview. This page is not yet listed for search engines.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
an electrical short in the electrical system, which resulted in a malfunction of the nosewheel steering system and loss of directional control.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 20, 1997 · about 2:16 pm local time
- Place
- Hailey, Idaho · Friedman Memorial · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- North American NA-265-40 · all NA-265-40s on the register
- Registration
- N123CD · no longer on the register · serial 282-23
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot reported that during the landing roll, the thrust reversers were deployed, and the airplane began to slowly veer to the left. The pilot applied rudder control to correct the situation; however, the airplane continued to the left. The pilot stated that he then applied hard right braking action. When the airplane slowed to below 60 knots, the pilot centered the rudder and tried twice to engage the nosewheel steering and then the standby steering system. Neither system seemed to engage, and the airplane continued off the side of the runway and collided with a runway marker and a snowbank. The nose gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest off the runway. Postaccident investigation of the electrical system revealed a short to the command potentiometer, which affected the primary and standby nosewheel steering systems.
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: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,000 hours in all; 126 in this make and model; 130 in the last 90 days; 34 in the last 30 days; 5,600 as pilot in command; 2,820 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 8,393 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, February 16, 1995; 76 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 19,035 lb
- Seats: 9
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT12A-8 (turbojet); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: GVW Kansas City MO at 11:40 am
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 31, 6,602 ft by 100 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 340° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 30 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 9,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 28°F (-2°C), dew point 16°F (-9°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:55 pm from SUN
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
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.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number SEA97LA081.