Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Beaufort, South Carolina 29902
Monday, November 30, 1987 9:46 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AT 0938, WHILE CLBG THRU 9000', THE PLT WAS CLRD TO CLB TO FL 210. APRX 10 MIN LATER, THE ATC CTLR NOTED THE ACFT'S MODE C RTRN WASN'T BEING DISPLAYED ON HIS SCOPE. HE TRIED TO ADZ THE PLT, BUT COULDN'T ESTABLISH RADIO CONTACT. THE ACFTBROKE UP IN FLT & THE WRECKAGE WAS FND SUBMERGED IN A CREEK & ON MARSHLAND. A LARGE PIECE OF THE RGT OUTBOARD WING PANELWAS FND ABT 2 MI EAST OF THE MAIN WRECKAGE. THE RGT ENG WAS FND APRX 800' TO 1200' NE OF THE MAIN WRECKAGE IN 4' OF WTR.THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE RGT OUTBOARD WING HAD FAILED FM UPWARD & AFT OVERLOAD. NO PRE-ACDNT MECH FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FND THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN AN IN-FLT BREAK-UP. RADAR DATA SHOWED THE ACFT WAS CLBG AT 115 KTS & 1100'/MIN; AT APRX 16,000' MSL, RATE OF CLB SLOWED TO APRX 750'/MIN, THEN INCREASED TO 1200'/MIN. PEAK ALT WAS APRX 18,200'. ACFT THENENTERED A STEEP DSCNT & CRASHED. AT THE APRX TIME & PLACE OF PEAK ALT, PRIMARY TARGETS APPEARED ON RADAR & REMAINED FOR SVRL MINS. ORGANIC MTRL WAS FND ON LEFT ENG INLET SCREEN, BUT SOURCE WAS NOT DTRMD. ACDNT OCCURRED ALONG BIRD FLYWAY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/30/1987
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 946
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City BEAUFORT
Event State SOUTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 29902
Event Date Year 1987
Event Date Month 11
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 Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 956 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID NBC
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 20500
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) 2341
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 30 1987 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1052
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 36222
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 2:58PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4463W
NTSB Number ATL88MA048
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 C90
Aircraft Series Identifier C90
Aircraft Serial Number LJ-633
Certified Max Gross Weight 9650
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 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Jan 15 1987 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 191
Airframe Hours 2092
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOSEPH R. LEON
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. BOX 341
Aircraft Owner City RIVERSIDE
Aircraft Owner State NJ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 08075
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 SAV
Departure City SAVANNAH
Departure State GA
Departure Country
Departure Time 931
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PNE
Destination City PHILADELPHIA
Destination State PA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
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 --