Palatka Kay Larkin Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Palatka, Florida 32177
Saturday, April 15, 2000 1:03 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

At 0103, N1072D, collided with terrain and trees during approach to landing on runway 09, at the Kay Larkin Municipal Airport, in Palatka, Florida. The airplane had departed Palm Beach International Airport, West Palm Beach, Florida, about 2300 the previous day, and no flight plan was filed. According to a witness, on the second approach the airplane was over runway 09 moving from west to east, when the witness saw the airplane break-out of the overcast in a 30 degree bank to the right and a high descent rate. The witness told the pilot to level his wings and 'pull up, pull up'. He heard the engines go to full power, and saw the nose of the airplane raise up but the wings never leveled, and the airplanes descent rate never changed. He said he heard the crash and saw a large fire ball. Weather at the time of the accident was below instrument approach minimums and the pilot was not instrument rated. A toxicology examination of the pilot found high levels of alcohol in fluid specimens examined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's physically impaired condition due to his high level of alcohol. Factors were the pilot's intentional VFR flight into IMC conditions and failure to perform a missed approach, which resulted in a collision with the ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/15/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 103
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City PALATKA
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32177
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport PALATKA KAY LARKIN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 28J
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 56
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 135 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID SGJ
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 100
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) 1
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 1000
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) 219
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 15 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Apr 9 2001 8:54AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1072D
NTSB Number ATL00FA041
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model BE-58
Aircraft Series Identifier BE-58
Aircraft Serial Number TH-1772
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 7 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 655
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WAYNE LAMAR AKERS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2000 NORTH 10TH AVE
Aircraft Owner City LAKEWORTH
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33461
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 PBI
Departure City WEST PALM BEACH
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 2300
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 9 2001 8:54AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 9
Runway Length 5003
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --