Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grand Marais/Cook County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Marais, Minnesota 55604
Thursday, August 28, 2003 11:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain about 1.5 nautical miles from the destination airport during a personal flight. The pilot made a planned en route stop prior to departing for the destination airport which had been reporting instrument meteorological condition with variable sky conditions resulting in ceilings below instrument approach minimums along with convective activity. These conditions persisted since the pilot's last reported weather briefing, about four hours prior to the approach. Prior to receiving an approach clearance, the pilot was issued a convective SIGMET encompassing the destination airport and its destination sky conditions, which were above approach minimums. There was no record of the pilot reporting a missed approach. The twin-engine airplane was destroyed by impact forces and fire. Both propellers exhibited impact signatures consistent with engine power. The flight control cables were traced to areas of separation within the wreckage as their related components had been destroyed. According to airplane records, the airplane was equipped with a four-color weather radar system.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The continued descent below minimum descent altitude and the altitude/clearance not maintained by the pilot during approach to the airport. The low ceiling was a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/28/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grand Marais |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55604 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 475018N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0902259W |
| Event Location Airport | GRAND MARAIS/COOK COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CKC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 1799 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1115 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CKC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1799 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | Lighting Distant Southeast |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16002 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 28 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N285V |
| NTSB Number | CHI03FA296 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 58P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TJ-118 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5105 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Quintessence Air Service LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 287 E 6th Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Saint Paul |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55101 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Charles W. Erickson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1223 Mount Curve Ave |
| Operator City | Minneapolis |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55403 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | DLH |
| Departure City | Duluth |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 948 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CKC |
| Destination City | Grand Marais |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2004 8:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4199 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |