- Date
- July 24, 1991, 09:18 local (13:18 UTC)
- Place
- Jonesville, VA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N118CBBeech V35A
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910724029739A
- Case key
- 11629
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
Failure of the pilot-in-command (PIC) to assure that the instrument departure procedure was followed and that the aircraft remained clear of mountainous terrain.
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
Before taking off fm the unctld arpt, the flt obtained a wx briefing, filed an IFR flt plan & rcvd an instrument clnc by telephone with a void time of 15 min later. A witness estimated the arpt wx was 200' ovc, vis 1 to 5 mi with fog, and stone mtn (north of the arpt) was obscured. The acft depd fm rwy 25 with 4 rated plts aboard. The owner (a non-instrument rated plt) was in the left fnt seat & a commercial rated instructor plt (pic/cfi/cfii) was in the rgt fnt seat. Shortly after takeoff, the acft crashed into stone mtn, aprx 2.5 mi from the arpt, on a hdg of abt 310 deg. An exam revealed the throwover yoke was to the left. Logs showed the owner had been rcvg instrument instruction fm the instructor in the rgt fnt seat. The instrument dep proc was to climb visually ovr arpt to 2800', then cont climb via drct long hollow non-drctnl bcn holding pattern to 5000' before proceeding on course. Ethanol was detected in the rgt fnt seat occupant's blood; however, there was evidence of decomposition in the sample.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N118CB
- Reported as
- Beech V35A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D8983
- Airframe hours
- 2,932
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-BA, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bruce L. Van Huss
- Registered owner
- Bruce L. Van Huss
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 12, 1990 · 193 hours before
- Departed
- PTG · Pennington Gap, VA
- Destination
- RFD · Rockford, IL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PTG · Lee County, runway 25, 2,262 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 77
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Temperature
- 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.