St Petersburg-Clearwater Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St Petersburg, Florida 34622
Sunday, July 25, 1993 12:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT WAS CLEARED TO ENTER A RIGHT TRAFFIC PATTERN FOR LANDING ON RUNWAY 9. AFTER RECEIVING CLEARANCE TO LAND, HE INFORMED THE TOWER THAT HE WAS OVER THE WRONG RUNWAY (RUNWAY 4) AND WAS GOING AROUND. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE IN A STEEP LEFT, CLIMBING TURN. THE AIRPLANE THEN ENTERED A SHARP TURN TO THE RIGHT, ITS NOSE DROPPED RAPIDLY, AND THE PLANE CRASHED. THE PILOT AND TWO PASSENGERS WERE FATALLY INJURED. ONE PASSENGER SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURY. AN EXAMINATION OF THE AIRFRAME, FLIGHT CONTROLS, ENGINE ASSEMBLY, AND ACCESSORIES REVEALED NO PRECRASH MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED DURING THE GO-AROUND, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE AIRPORT, AND HIS SELECTION OF THE WRONG RUNWAY.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/25/1993
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1230
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City ST PETERSBURG
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34622
Event Date Year 1993
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ST PETERSBURG-CLEARWATER
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PIE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 11
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1234 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID PIE
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1228
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 25 1993 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 1:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N60093
NTSB Number MIA93FA163
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BEECH
Aircraft Model C23
Aircraft Series Identifier C23
Aircraft Serial Number M2090
Certified Max Gross Weight 2450
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 3 1993 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 62
Airframe Hours 727
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BECHTOLD, WILLIAM L. SR.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2896 SALAMANDER CREEK LANE
Aircraft Owner City N. CHARLESTON
Aircraft Owner State SC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 29418
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code VNC
Departure City VENICE
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1120
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PIE
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
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 4
Runway Length 5500
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --