Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lunken Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newtown, Ohio 45244
Wednesday, January 26, 1994 22:02 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT PREFLIGHTED THE AIRPLANE & RECEIVED A WEATHER BRIEFING FOR A NIGHT CARGO FLIGHT IN INSTRUMENT CONDITIONS. NO ABNORMALITIES WERE REPORTED BY THE PILOT, OR BY WITNESSES WHO SPOKE WITH HIM. HE TOOK OFF ON RUNWAY 6 & CONTACTED APPROACH CONTROL. AFTER ENTERING CLOUDS DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB, THE AIRPLANE TURNED FROM THE INTENDED COURSE & ENTERED A RAPID DESCENT. IT CRASHED ON A HEADING OF 290 DEGREES, WHILE IN A RIGHT WING LOW ATTITUDE. NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL DEFICIENCIES WERE FOUND WITH THE AIRFRAME, ENGINES, OR SYSTEMS. THE PILOT HAD LOGGED 31.5 HOURS OF MULTIENGINE FLIGHT TIME & 65.7 HOURS OF INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TIME AS OF ABOUT 3 MONTHS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT; NO PILOT LOGBOOK ENTRIES WERE LOCATED TO VERIFY SUBSEQUENT FLIGHT TIME. THE CHIEF PILOT WAS A 'GOOD FRIEND' OF THE PILOT. HE HAD DOCUMENTED FLIGHT EXPERIENCE OF THE ACCIDENT PILOT, WHICH WAS NOT CONSISTENT WITH THE PILOT'S PERSONAL LOGBOOK OR VERBAL COMMENTS BY THE ACCIDENT PILOT, 6 DAYS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. REPORTEDLY, THIS WAS THE PILOT'S 4TH OR 5TH SINGLE-PILOT PART 135 FLIGHT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT AFTER BECOMING SPATIALLY DISORIENTATED IN NIGHT INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC). FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE TYPE OF OPERATION, HIS LACK OF RECENT INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE, AND INADEQUATE SURVEILLANCE OF THE OPERATION BY THE CHIEF PILOT/COMPANY MANAGEMENT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/26/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2202 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | NEWTOWN |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45244 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LUNKEN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LUK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 50 |
| Airport Elevation | 483 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2212 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LUK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 483 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1999 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 26 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N555AC |
| NTSB Number | BFO94FA032 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| 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-58 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BE-58 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TH-12 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5400 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 14 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 308 |
| Airframe Hours | 6225 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RIVER CITY AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2117 YORKTOWN DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAPE GIRARDEAU |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63701 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CAPE CENTRAL AIRWAYS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 99 |
| Operator City | CAPE GIRARDEAU |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 63702 |
| Operator Code | EFPA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LUK |
| Departure City | CINCINATTI |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2158 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BKL |
| Destination City | CLEVELAND |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 4:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 6 |
| Runway Length | 5128 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |