FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

SEA87LA105 · Beech BE18

29 May 1987 · Glenns Ferry, ID, United States

Majestic Airlines Beech BE18 · Accident: in flight encounter with weather en route

From Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field (BOI) to Joslin Field Magic Valley Regional Airport (TWF)

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
SEA87LA105
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Beech BE18

Aircraft type
Beechcraft 18
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N503CW
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field (BOI), Boise, IDTo Joslin Field Magic Valley Regional Airport (TWF), Twin Falls, ID
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · cruise
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
In flight encounter with weather
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Flight control, elevator attachment › Overload
  • Pilot in command › Remedial action, not possible
  • Terrain condition › Ditch

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

WHILE AT CRZ, PLT ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, EXPERIENCED ELEVATOR CONTROL DIFFICULTIES AND YOKE VIBRATIONS. PLT DECLARED EMERG, REQUESTED VECTOR TO CLOSEST AIRPORT. MTN HOME AFB RAPCON GAVE VECTOR TO GLENNS FERRY AIRPORT. ON APPROACH, PLT SIGHTED LARGE 'X' MARKS ON RWY, INDICATING AIRPORT CLOSED, BUT DUE NATURE OF EMERG, ELECTED TO CONTINUE. DUE CONDITIONS OF DUSK, PLT DID NOT SIGHT OBSTRUCTIONS (LARGE DIRT MOUNDS) ON RWY UNTIL COMMITTED. PLT ATTEMPTED TO STEER CLEAR ON T/D AND ROLL, BUT UNABLE; COLLIDED WITH ONE OR MORE BEFORE COMING TO REST. INVEST REVEALED ELEV TAB CONTROL ROD END HAD TORN FREE OF TAB HORN. HORN SHOWED EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS WEAR NECESSITATING OVERSIZE BEARING. CONTINUED WEAR REDUCED CROSS-SECTION; UNABLE TO WITHSTAND TURB-INDUCED FLT LOADS. MTN HOME AFB NOT ON CLASS B NOTAM DIST AT TIME OF MISHAP.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record SEA87LA105
Event ID
20001213X31055
Case number
SEA87LA105
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1987-05-30.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: cc740c0901001a165f9956524d3bc3549905cc3d5cc91367e0a7ee1948f818c5; retrieved 2026-09-23T13:06:21.872Z.