Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Joe Foss Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57104
Wednesday, February 7, 2001 20:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane operating on a 14 CFR Part 135 cargo flight impacted the terrain during a circling approach at Sioux Falls after picking up ice which en route. During a weather briefing the pilot was informed that the weather at his destination airport was " two miles light freezing drizzle and fog eight hundred overcast for a ceiling ah their forecast til midnight is one mile variable four miles light freezing drizzle and fog five hundred overcast..." The briefer asked the pilot if he still wanted to go there and the pilot reported "Ya I guess they said I have to." The pilot reported that he began picking up ice approximately 50 miles from the destination and the accumulation increased as the flight progressed. The pilot informed ATC that he was picking up a lot of ice and ATC issued the VOR RWY 15 approach to the pilot. ATC asked the pilot if he wanted to fly the approach straight in or if he wanted to circle to land on runway 3. The pilot reported that he would circle. The pilot reported that while circling to land the airplane began to "shutter". He stated that the de-ice boots had become ineffective. The pilot reported he applied full power and the airplane continued to shutter at zero degrees bank. He continued to report, "It became apparent I could not make the runway at this point. I had to lower the nose to keep the aircraft from stalling. At approximately 50 feet I lowered the landing gear and crashed straight ahead into a highway dept. equipment storage yard." A post crash fire ensued. According to the pilot, he voiced his concerns regarding the weather for the flight to company dispatch personnel and requested to fly to an alternate airport; however, he was directed to fly to Sioux Falls.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot initiated the flight into known icing conditions which resulted in his ability to maintain control of the airplane. Factors associated with the accident were the ice accumulation and the company induced pressure for the pilot to make the flight into the adverse weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/7/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2030 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Sioux Falls |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57104 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Joe Foss Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FSD |
| 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 | 1429 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2032 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1429 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10847 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 7 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 1 2001 7:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Rapid City, SD FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N107BA |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA082 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 65-B80 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LD-358 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bemidji Aviation Services, Inc.. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 624 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bemidji |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56619 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AXN |
| Departure City | Alexandria |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | UZ |
| Departure Time | 1925 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FSD |
| Destination City | Sioux Falls |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - circling (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 16 2001 9:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 8999 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |