Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Putnam, Texas 76469
Wednesday, February 14, 1990 7:53 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

BFR TKOF, SAN ANGELO AFSS BRIEFER TOLD THE PLT COMPUTERS WERE DWN IN SOUTH TX FOR 1.5 HRS & NO CURRENT WX INFO WAS AVBL.CURRENT WX INFO WAS AVBL AT NWS AT MIDLAND & FSS'S AT MIDLAND, MCALESTER & DE RIDDER, BUT THE PLT DIDN'T CALL THESE, NORDID THE BRIEFER ADZ HIM TO DO SO. PLT DIDN'T UPDATE WX IN FLT. ABT 38 MIN AFTER TKOF, IN AREA OF POTENTIAL ICING, ACFT SLOWED FM 270 TO 150 KTS GS IN 4 MIN, THEN SLOWED TO 100 KTS IN NEXT 12 SEC. ABT 33 SEC BFR RCHG 100 KTS, PLT RQD DSCNT FM 15,000' TO 13,000'. AT THAT TIME, TRUE GND TRACK WAS APRX 080 DEG WITH WND ALOFT ABT 213 DEG AT 43 KTS. BFR ATC COULDCLR DSCNT, ACFT DSCNDD TO 14,800, THEN RADAR CTC WAS LOST AFTER 1 RTRN AT 9700'. DSCNT RATE BTN LAST 2 ALTS: 12,750 FPM.NO PREIMPACT MALFUNCTION WAS FND. IMC EXISTED ABV 12,500'. FRZG LVL WAS FCST AT 10,000' TO 12,000'. ACFT WAS CERT FOR FLT IN KNOWN ICING CONDS, BUT STATUS OF ANTI-ICE/DE-ICE EQUIP WASN'T DTRMD DUE TO IMPACT/FIRE DMG. LOW LVLS OF ETHANOL WERE FND IN TOX SAMPLES FM ALL OCCUPANTS; HOWEVER, THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE TOX SAMPLES WERE UNRELIABLE.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN EXCESSIVE ACCUMMULATION OF STRUCTURAL ICING (ON THE AIRCRAFT'S WINGS, STABILIZERS, FUSELAGE, AND/OR ENGINE INLETS), AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED AND AIRCRAFT CONTROL. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE WEATHER EVALUATION DUE TO LACK OF AVAILABLE INFORMATION AT THE AUTOMATED FLIGHT SERVICE STATION (AFSS), HIS FAILURE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM OTHER WEATHER STATIONS (EITHER BEFORE TAKEOFF OR DURING THE FLIGHT), HIS LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THIS MAKE AND MODEL OF AIRCRAFT, AND ICING CONDITIONS AT CRUISE ALTITUDE.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/14/1990
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 753
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City PUTNAM
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76469
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Unknown
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by briefer
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 750 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 268
Weather Observation Facility ID ABI
Elevation of weather observation facility 1790
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
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) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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 5
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 5
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 524
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 14 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 41253
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 4:46PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N300CW
NTSB Number FTW90FA072
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion Ground
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MITSUBISHI
Aircraft Model MU-2B-60
Aircraft Series Identifier MU-2B-60
Aircraft Serial Number 795
Certified Max Gross Weight 11575
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 11
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Feb 7 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 2600
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILLIAMS AVIATION CO.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6 DESTRA DR., SUITE 3000
Aircraft Owner City MIDLAND
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 79705
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 MDD
Departure City MIDLAND
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 710
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DAL
Destination City DALLAS
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --