Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Elkhart Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elkhart, Indiana 46514
Friday, January 22, 1999 18:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was cleared for the ILS Rwy 27 approach. Radar data indicated the airplane had intercepted the inbound approach course of 271 degrees. The surviving passenger reported he heard the landing gear extension and saw the three landing gear indicator lights illuminate. He reported that he did not hear the airplane malfunction or hear any abnormal sounds. He reported he saw the glow of parking lot lights in the fog out the left rear window. He reported seeing the pilot looking out the left window and then looking to the front of the airplane. The airplane initially impacted two 40 foot pine trees about 800 feet from the wreckage site. The radar data hit was recorded when the airplane was about 1,300 feet msl and about 2.0 nm from the runway. It indicated the airplane's glide path was about 130 feet below the ILS Rwy 27's glide path. The reported weather was winds 120 at 7 knots, visibility 1/2 mile, light rain, mist, indefinite ceiling, 200 foot overcast, 9 degrees C, 29.77. A weather station 14 miles from the accident was reporting the temperature and dew point as 8 degrees C. Ground fog was reported in the area. The airplane did not exhibit any pre-impact anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot failed to maintain a proper glidepath and obstacle clearance. Factors were the fog and dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/22/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1840 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ELKHART |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46514 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ELKHART MUNICIPAL AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EKM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 778 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1845 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EKM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 778 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 435 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 737 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 22 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40HC |
| NTSB Number | CHI99FA075 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | BE-55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BE-55 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC-1974 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5121 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 4 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 141 |
| Airframe Hours | 3678 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GGT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1808 W. HIVELY AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ELKHART |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46517 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OTG |
| Departure City | WORTHINGTON |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1540 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | EKM |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 6500 |
| Runway Width | 120 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |