# Accident 20000904015239A: Beech B95, Odessa, FL, September 4, 2000

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 4, 2000, 12:25 local time
- Place: Odessa, FL
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 28.2200° N, 82.6233° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=28.2200&lon=-82.6233&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3WT, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N3WT-2001-04-12) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Beech B95 (registry code 1153404, https://openairdocs.org/model/beech-b95) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BEECH B95
- Reported engine: LYC O360A1A
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 1,876 total
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB MIA00FA260](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA00FA260) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20000904015239A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2000, AT 12:25 LOCAL TIME, A BEECH 95, N3WT, SERIAL NO. TD-409, REGISTERED TO JAMES M. FIELDS CARASHED AT APPROX. 45 DEGREE NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE IN ODESSA, FL. APPROX. 3 MILES NW OF TAMPA EXECUTIVE AIRPORT (X41). VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME AND NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED. THE A/C WAS DESTROYED AND THE PILOT DECEASED. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED AT TAMPA EXECUTIVE AIRPORT SEPTEMBER 4, 2000 AT APPROX. 12:00. (.4) THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND IN A FIELD AFTER AN EMERGENCY LOCATOR TRANSMITTER BEACON HAD MADE AN ALERT OF A POSSIBLE ACCIDENT HAVING OCCURRED. AT ABOUT 1225, A WITNESS, WHO HAD ALSO BEEN A STUDENT PILOT, WAS IN A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT NEAR WHERE THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND, AND HE SAID THAT HE HAD OBSERVED AN AIRCRAFT MANEUVERING AT A LOW ALTITUDE, JUST ABOVE THE TREE LINE. HE SAID HE SAW THE AIRCRAFT ENTER A STEEP BANK, AND START A DIVE WITH ITS LEFT WING DOWN. ACCORDING TO THE WITNESS, THE AIRCRAFT THEN WENT BELOW THE TREE LINE, AND HE WAITED FOR SIGNS OF AN IMPACT, SUCH AS NOISE OR SMOKE, BUT DID NOT HEAR OR SEE ANYTHING. HE SAID HE THEN ASSUMED THAT THE PILOT MIGHT HAVE RECOVERED ENOUGH TO SET THE AIRCRAFT DOWN IN THE FIELD.  HE SAID THE AIRCRAFT HAD DESCENDED AS AN EAGLE WOULD, HAD IT BEEN ATTACKING A SMALL ANIMAL. FAA TAMPA APPROACH RADAR INFORMATION SHOWED THAT THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN AT 300 FEET AT 1221:44, AND IT HAD CLIMBED TO A MAXIMUM ALTITUDE OF 1,100 FEET AT 1223:35. AT 1224:21, RADAR INFORMATION SHOWED THE AIRCRAFT AT 700 FEET, PRIOR TO ALL RADAR INFORMATION BEING LOST. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS, IN VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITION, AND EXAMINATION OF THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT DID NOT REVEAL ANY PREEXISTING FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION TO THE AIRCRAFT OR ANY OF ITS SYSTEMS. THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT PROPELLER SIGNATURES THAT WERE FOUND WERE CONSISTENT WITH THE LEFT PROPELLER HAVING BEEN FEATHERED, AND THE RIGHT PROPELLER ROTATING UPON IMPACT.

## 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 MIA00FA260](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA00FA260), Sep 4, 2000: Beech B-95 (N3WT), Odessa, FL, substantial damage, 1 fatal. Probable cause: the pilot's failure to maintain Vmc, which resulted in a loss of control, and collision with the ground. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to feather a propeller powered by an…

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.

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