Lake Charles Munic. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lake Charles, Louisiana 70606
Thursday, February 18, 1988 18:35 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

ACFT CRASHED INTO A LAKE SHORTLY AFTER BEING VECTORED ONTO THE FINAL APPROACH COURSE FOR AN ILS AT 1,500'. TWO CURRENT IFR PLTS WERE ON BOARD. WX AT THE TIME WAS 500' OVC WITH 10 MILES VIS AND NO CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY OR TURBULENCE REPORTED IN THE AREA. NO EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND DURING THE INVESTIGATION AND ALL OF THE NAV FACILITIES WERE GRND AND FLT CHECKED AND FOUND TO OPERATING NORMALLY. THERE WERE NO ABNORMAL TRIM SETTINGS AND THE A/P WAS IN THE STANDBY MODE AT IMPACT. THE APPROACH COURSE WAS IN A PUBLISHED AND ACTIVE MIGRATORY BIRD FLYWAY. LOCAL ORNITHOLOGISTS STATED THAT LARGE FLOCKS OF BIRDS WERE KNOWN TO BE AIRBORNE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/18/1988
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1835
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City LAKE CHARLES
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70606
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAKE CHARLES MUNIC.
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LCH
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 15
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1835 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 145
Weather Observation Facility ID LCH
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 500
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
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) --
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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2072
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 18 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2035
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 38442
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 11:33AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5701K
NTSB Number FTW88FA063
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 S35
Aircraft Series Identifier S35
Aircraft Serial Number D-7495
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 2 1987 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 84
Airframe Hours 2734
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SCHMIDT, RICHARD L
Aircraft Owner Street Address R.R. 2
Aircraft Owner City UPPER SANDUSKY
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 43351
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name RICHARD L. SCHMIDT
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address RR. 2
Operator City UPR SANDUSKY
Operator State OH
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 43351
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code GWO
Departure City GREENWOOD
Departure State MS
Departure Country
Departure Time 1638
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
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 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 15
Runway Length 6500
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --