# Accident 19970523013919A: Beech V35, Shawnee, OK, May 23, 1997 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: May 23, 1997, 16:48 local time - Place: Shawnee, OK - Airport: Shawnee Municipal Airport - Damage: Destroyed - Phase of flight: Descent - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 35.3309° N, 96.9105° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.3309&lon=-96.9105&mi=10 - Aircraft: N5459U, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N5459U-1998-10-31) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Beech V35 (registry code 1151538, https://openairdocs.org/model/beech-v35) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: BEECH V35 - Reported engine: CONT IO520BA - People aboard: 3 - Fatal injuries: 3 - Pilot flight hours: 433 total, 197 in this make and model, 29 in the last 90 days - NTSB investigation: [NTSB FTW97FA199](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW97FA199) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970523013919A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. VFR PILOT LOST CONTROL CLIMBING INTO CLOUDS. CAME OUT IN SPIRAL DOVE INTO GROUND. AIRMET FOR WX AND TURBULENCE. (-23) ON MAY 23, 1997, AT APPROXIMATELY 16:45, BEECH BONANZA, N5459U, SERIAL NUMBER D8541, TOOK OFF WITH THE PILOT DONALD GROGAN AND TWO PASSENGERS ABOARD. THEY TOOK OFF FROM SHAWNEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, SHAWNEE, OK AND CLIMBED INTO THE OVERCAST. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED DESCENDING FROM THE OVERCAST IN A SPIRAL. THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED AT APPROXIMATELY 16:55 ONE MILE NORTH AND ONE QUARTER MILE WEST OF SHAWNEE AIRPORT (SNL). THE FUEL TANKS WERE RUPTURED AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS MOSTLY CONSUMED IN THE FIRE. ALL THREE PERSONS ABOARD PERISHED. NO OTHER INJURIES OR PROPERTY DAMAGE OCCURRED. (.19) ON MAY 23, 1997, APPROXIMATELY 1655 CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME, A BEECH V35, N5459U, WAS DESTROYED FOLLOWING A LOSS OF CONTROL WHILE ON DEPARTURE CLIMB FROM SHAWNEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, NEAR SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA. THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PRIVATE PILOT AND HIS TWO PASSENGERS WERE FATALLY INJURED. THE AIRPLANE WAS OWNED AND OPERATED BY A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL UNDER TITLE 14 CFR PART 91. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED FOR THE CROSS COUNTRY PERSONAL FLIGHT WHICH ORIGINATED APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. A FLIGHT PLAN HAD NOT BEEN FILED, BUT WITNESSES STATED THAT THE PROPOSED DESTINATION WAS MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED RUNWAY 17 AND MADE A RIGHT TURN FOR A NORTH DEPARTURE. OTHER WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING THE AIRPLANE APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE AIRPORT "ROTATING OUT OF THE CLOUDS TO THE GROUND." (.4) ON MAY 23, 1997 APPROXIMATELY 1648 CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME, A BEECH V35, N5459U, WAS DESTROYED FOLLOWING A LOSS OF CONTROL WHILE ON DEPARTURE CLIMB FROM SHAWNEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, NEAR SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA. THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PRIVATE PILOT AND HIS TWO PASSENGERS WERE FATALLY INJURED. THE AIRPLANE WAS OPERATED BY A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL UNDER TITLE 14 CFR PART 91. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT, BUT THE FAA FLIGHT SERVICE STATION (FSS) RECOMMENDED IFR FOR THE CROSS COUNTRY PERSONAL FLIGHT WHICH ORIGINATED APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. A FLIGHT PLAN HAD NOT BEEN FILED, BUT WITNESSES STATED THAT THE PROPOSED DESTINATION WAS MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE PILOT AND HIS FAMILY HAD DEPARTED MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA, ON MAY 19, 1997, FOR THE FLIGHT TO SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA. ON MAY 23, FAA RECORDS INDICATE THAT THE PILOT CALLED THE MCALESTER FSS, AT APPROXIMATELY 0855, FOR A WEATHER BRIEFING. THE FAA WEATHER BRIEFER GAVE THE PILOT A DETAILED WEATHER BRIEFING, WHICH INCLUDED THE RECOMENDATION TO "NOT FLY VFR." THE PILOT STATED TO THE BRIEFER THAT HE WANTED TO GET HOME FOR HIS DAUGHTER'S HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION CEREMONY ON SUNDAY, BUT "I'M NOT GOING TO FLY WITH THOSE {WEATHER} CONDITIONS." WITNESSES REPORTED, TO THE INVESTIGATOR-IN-CHARGE (IIC), THAT THE PILOT ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT, AT APPROXIMATELY 1315, TO TAKE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES FOR RIDES IN THE LOCAL AREA. ONE WITNESS STATED THAT THE PILOT THEN ASKED HIM, AT APPROXIMATELY 1400, TO "TOP OFF THE FUEL TANKS", WHICH HE DID WITH APPROXIMATELY 42 GALLONS OF FUEL. THE WITNESS FURTHER STATED THAT "THE PILOT LEFT THE AIRPORT WITH HIS FRIENDS AND DID NOT RETURN UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 1630." THE WITNESS REPORTED TO THE IIC THAT THE PILOT PAID FOR FUEL AND SERVICES, AND DEPARTED ON RUNWAY 17 WITH TWO PASSENGERS, APPROXIMATELY 1645. FAA RADAR DATA INDICATED THAT THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED THE AIRPORT TO THE SOUTH AND MADE A RIGHT CLIMBING TURN TO A NORTHBOUND HEADING. THE RADAR DATA FURTHER INDICATED THAT THE AIPRLANE CLIMBED TO APPROXIMATELY 3,000 FEET MSL (APPROXIMATELY 2,000 FEET AGL) BEFORE IT BEGAN DESCENDING. SEVERAL WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE "SPINNING VERY RAPIDLY OUT OF THE CLOUDS TO THE GROUND." OR AS ONE WITNESS SAID, "THE AIRPLANE WAS SPINNING IN A CORK SCREW FASHION." THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE GROUND APPROXIMTAELY 0.5 MILE EAST OF ACME ROAD AND APPROXIMATELY 0.3 OF A MILE SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40 (NORTH 35 DEGREES 23.04 MINUTES LONGITUDE BY WEST 96 DEGREES 57.38 MINUTES LATITUDE). THE FUEL SELECTOR ESCUTCHION (COVER PLATE) WAS FOUND CRUSHED UPWARD, AND THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE OFF AND THE LEFT POSITION. ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB FTW97FA199](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW97FA199), May 23, 1997: Beech V35 (N5459U), Shawnee, OK, destroyed, 3 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's inadvertent entry into a spin. A factor was the pilot's initiated flight into adverse weather. From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.