Joplin Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Carterville, Missouri 64835
Friday, July 13, 2001 CDT

The airplane arrived in the vicinity of Joplin, Missouri, just after midnight. At 0011:38, Kansas City ARTCC (ZKC) informed the pilot that the weather at the Joplin Regional Airport (JLN) was 800 broken, 5,000 overcast and 10 miles visibility. The pilot, operating under visual flight rules, told ZKC that they would need an instrument approach into JLN. ZKC cleared the pilot to JLN and gave the pilot radar vectors to the ILS to runway 13. At 0031:35, the pilot told ZKC that he was getting warning flags for the localizer and glide slope. The pilot elected to transition to the ILS for runway 18. ZKC gave him vectors for the approach. At 0033:46, ZKC asked the pilot if he still had plenty of fuel? The pilot confirmed he had 2 hours of fuel on board. At 0042:30, ZKC cleared the pilot for the ILS approach. At 0046:36, ZKC lost radar contact with the airplane. The pilot told ZKC they were at 2,700 feet, descending. At 0048:40, ZKC transmitted to the pilot that his airplane was just about over JLN at 2,400 feet. The pilot told ZKC they were going missed approach and requested another approach to runway 18. At 0055:16, the pilot transmitted, "... we're having a little problem here I think we've lost an engine I'm trying to get leveled off here and get back to 4,000 feet." ZKC told the pilot, "... keep me advised." At 0056:06, ZKC transmitted that he showed the airplane descending below 2,300 feet. There was no response from the airplane. The last positions recorded by ZKC radar showed the airplane 3 miles east of JLN in a rapid descent. Witnesses on the ground heard an airplane make several passes over Carterville, Missouri. One witness said that on the airplane's third pass, it sounded like a single engine airplane. Another witness said she saw the lights on the airplane. The witness described the airplane pitch up into a 30-degree nose high climb, roll counterclockwise, and then enter a 45-degree dive toward the ground. The airplane continued its counterclockwise roll until she lost sight of it behind some trees. A witness residing in the house across the street from the house the airplane struck, said when he heard the airplane, it sounded like it was in a nosedive barrel roll. The witness said it was loud and fast. It sounded like a loud engine running and it sounded like one engine, not two. An examination of the airplane revealed no pre-impact anomalies. The published decision height for the ILS/DME runway 18 approach at JLN is 1,165 feet. The pilot had 6,823.8 total flying hours. Approximately 1,440 hours were in multi-engine airplanes. The pilot's last recorded flight in a multi-engine airplane was in a Cessna 337 on October 26, 2000. According to the previous owner of the airplane, the pilot got checked out in the airplane 6 days before the accident.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control and the pilot's improper in-flight planning and decisions. Factors relating to the accident were the pilot's lack of experience in the airplane, the inadvertent spiral, and the residence.