- Date
- January 7, 1989, 19:35 local (Jan 8, 1989, 01:35 UTC)
- Place
- Paducah, KY
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N784KBeech B-90
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report April 19, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890107000309A
- Case key
- 7975
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Pilot failed to maintain proper altitude while maneuvering to land. Probable contributing factors were inoperative weather radar, thunderstorms, lightning, an undetermined electrical problem, dark night, the pilot's improperly planned approach and visual perception, and the trees.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Drg a rtrn flt at ngt to decatur, AL, the plt noted his wx radar was inop. He visually avoided thunderstorms (tstms), which had been forecasted. While avoiding tstms, he noted a reduction in eng power, a slight yaw, indcns of fuel flow irregularity & that the left & rgt boost pumps were inop. These occurred at about the time, he saw a white arc which he said had jumped from the prop, spinner or nacelle area to the acft's nose. Due to the wx, he elected to divert to Paducah. After the arpt was in sight, he needed to lose alt before landing & was cleared to make a 360 deg turn. While turning, he lost sight of the arpt, then rolled out on the wrong heading & started flying toward a strobe light at an industrial complex. When he realized his error & saw the arpt, he turned toward the rwy; but as he was maneuvering, the acft lost alt, hit trees & crashed. An exam of the engs & fuel pumps revealed no indcn of a preimpact failure. No physical evidence of a lightning strike was found, but the nose & engs were badly damaged from impact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N784K
- Reported as
- Beech B-90
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- LJ-427
- Airframe hours
- 5,293
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-20, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Merrill L. Walker
- Registered owner
- Eng. & Manufacturing Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · July 2, 1987 · 114 hours before
- Departed
- SDA · Shenandoah, IA
- Destination
- DCU · Decatur, AL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PAH · Barkley Regional, runway 22, 6,500 × 150 ft
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 49
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,061 total · 115 in this make and model · 1,009 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 220° at 22 knots, gusting 29
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAH, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.