- Date
- October 1, 1989, 16:42 local (20:42 UTC)
- Place
- Chamblee, GA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N43GTBeech C90
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891001037139A
- Case key
- 8098
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
Malfunction of one or more flight instruments for an undetermined reason, failue of the pilot to maintain control of the aircraft with partial panel instruments after becoming spatially disoriented, and his exceeding the design stress limits of the aircraft. The weather (low ceiling) and malfunctioning directional gyro were related factors.
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
After taking off, the plt established radio contact with dep ctl & rprtd a directional gyro problem. Seconds later, he rprtd that he was losing all instruments. Dep ctl attempted to provide no-gyro vectors. The plt was instructed to make a freq change. Soon thereafter, radio & radar contact were lost & the acft crashed. Before crashing the acft was observed in a rolling attitude. Wreckage was found scattered over a 600' by 150' area. An exam revealed the right wing had sepd in flt. There was evidence that the right wing had failed in an upward (positive) drctn. The plt's attitude gyro was damaged during impact, but no rotational damage was noted. The plt's attitude indcr & coplt's turn indcr were air driven, the plt's turn indcr was DC powered & the coplt's attitude indcr was ac powered. The maintenance log did not have a current static/altimeter & transponder check.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43GT
- Reported as
- Beech C90
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- LJ-652
- Airframe hours
- 4,272
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-20, 579 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Roy Beatty
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 3, 1989 · 136 hours before
- Departed
- PDK · Chamblee, GA
- Destination
- ORL · Orlando, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PDK · Dekalb Peachtree
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 400 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 700 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- PDK, 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.