CHI03FA296

The airplane was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain about 1.5 nautical miles from the destination airport during a personal flight. The pilot made a planned en route stop prior to departing for the destination airport which had been reporting instrument meteorological condition with variable sky conditions resulting in ceilings below instrument approach minimums along with convective activity. These conditions persisted since the pilot's last reported weather briefing, about four hours prior to the approach. Prior to receiving an approach clearance, the pilot was issued a convective SIGMET encompassing the destination airport and its destination sky conditions, which were above approach minimums. There was no record of the pilot reporting a missed approach. The twin-engine airplane was destroyed by impact forces and fire. Both propellers exhibited impact signatures consistent with engine power. The flight control cables were traced to areas of separation within the wreckage as their related components had been destroyed. According to airplane records, the airplane was equipped with a four-color weather radar system.

History of flight

On August 28, 2003, at 1115 central daylight time, a Beech 58P, N285V, piloted by a private pilot, was reported overdue after being cleared for an approach to Grand Marais Airport (CKC), Grand Marais, Minnesota. The wreckage of the airplane was later found about 1.5 nautical miles (NM) east of the airport. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed when the airplane was reported missing. The Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight was operating on an instrument rules flight (IFR) plan. The pilot and one passenger received fatal injuries, and two passengers received serious injuries. The flight originated from Duluth International Airport, Duluth, Minnesota, at 0948, and was en route to CKC.

At 0642:19, a person called Princeton Automated Flight Service Station (PNM AFSS) and requested and received a pilot weather briefing for N285V for an IFR flight from MIC to DLH, departing at 0730, and then departing from DLH to CKC at 0900. The caller then filed two IFR flight plans. The caller did not specify alternate airports on either flight plan. The caller said the airplane was equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS). The caller did not specifically request weather reports pertaining to CKC at the time of the briefing. At 0650:28, the call was concluded and there were no further contacts between PNM AFSS and N285V. A transcript of the briefing is included in the docket of this report.

The following transmissions were transcribed between Duluth Air Traffic Control Tower (DLH), Minneapolis ARTCC Sector 25 Radar Controller (ZMP25), and N285V.

At 0957:45, N285V transmitted, "minneapolis uh baron two eight five victor is with you seven thousand on course cook county."

At 0957:51, ZMP25 transmitted, "baron two eight five victor minneapolis center roger the grand marais altimeter is three or correction two niner eight four."

At 0957:58, N285V transmitted, "niner eight four eight five victor."

At 0959:15, ZMP25 transmitted, "attention all aircraft convective sigmet valid until one six five five for wis or michigan wisconsin minnesota and lake superior from international falls to three zero south of thunder bay to four zero west south west of rhinelander to four zero west of nodine to three zero north northeast of minneapolis to international falls developing area of thunderstorms moving from two five zero at four zero tops to flight level four one zero."

At 1005:02, N285V transmitted, "minneapolis center baron two eight five victor requesting lower."

At 1005:05, ZMP25 transmitted, "baron two eight five victor descend at pilots discretion maintain five thousand."

At 1005:09, N285V transmitted, "(unintelligible) thousand eight five victor."

At 1005:27, ZMP25 transmitted, "baron two eight five victor do you have the current grand marais weather one four five five."

At 1005:32, N285V, transmitted, "say again for eight five victor."

At 1005:34, ZMP25 transmitted, "do you have the current grand marais weather at one four five five u t c."

At 1005:39, N285V transmitted, "negative."

At 1005:40, ZMP25 transmitted, "o k we're showing uh the wind at zero five zero at three visibility four miles and heavy thunderstorms it's uh let's see there's a cloud layer at three hundred feet scattered ceiling is one thousand four hundred overcast temperature one four dew point one three altimeter two niner eight six and it says uh the remarks there is lightening in uh distant all quadrants

At 1006:04, N285V transmitted, "o k we copy that that's all passed through there though."

At 1006:07, ZMP25 transmitted, "yeah it appears so from here but radar coverage up in that area is kind of marginal and two eight five victor is cleared for approach to the grand marais airport maintain uh maintain five thousand til established on a published portion of the approach."

At 1006:21, N285V transmitted, "can you give us radar vectors."

At 1006:23, ZMP25 transmitted, "uh no sir i don't have the coverage uh radar or radio wise i'm going to lose you on both very shortly here."

At 1006:28, N285V transmitted, "k cleared for the approach into grand marais and uh we'll uh keep talking to you as long as we can otherwise i'll cancel on the ground."

At 1006:34, ZMP25 transmitted, "november two eight five victor roger."

At 1007:34, ZMP25 transmitted, "november two eight five victor your radar contact is lost change to advisory frequency is approved."

About 1030, a witness at CKC heard "routine" radio calls from N285V asking Cook County UNICOM about the ceiling. The witness was outside when he heard the transmission and began walking over to the radio located in the office. The witness asked if N285V needed a ceiling report. N284V made a transmission and said let me get my approach together and I'll get back with you. The witness saw the bottom of the airplane, "just barely" when it flew over runway 27, on runway heading, executing a missed approach. Everything sounded "normal" with regard to engine sound and the pilot's voice. It didn't sound as if he were having any problems with the approach or the airplane. There wasn't any other air traffic that landed before or after N265V's approach. The ceilings were "varying a lot" and the visibility was "fine underneath."

About 1250, the Minnesota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was notified of the missing airplane.

About 1630, the airplane was located in a wooded area about 1.5 NM east of CKC at an elevation of about 1,840 feet mean sea level (MSL).

Personnel information

The pilot, age 55, held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane ratings. He was issued a third class airman medical certificate on January 11, 2002, with the following limitations: "HOLDER SHALL WEAR CORRECTIVE LENSES."

On June 27, 1981, the pilot was issued a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. He reported a total flight time of 49 hours.

On April 4, 1983, he failed the flight examination portion for an instrument rating. Upon his reapplication for the rating, he was to be reexamined on the following: "III. C. ADF APPROACH."

On April 7, 1983, he was reexamined and issued an instrument airplane rating. He reported a total flight time of 294 hours.

On January 18, 1990, he failed the practical portion of his examination for a multiengine land rating using a Beech 76 airplane in which he reported a total time of 7.6 hours; the PIC time block in this section of the application has no entry. He reported a total flight time of 817 hours. Upon his reapplication for the rating, he was to be reexamined on the following: "Area of operation: IX. FLIGHT AT CRITICALLY XII. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS: C, D, ENGINE INOPERATIVE DEMO. WAS CONFUSED ON GETTING BACK TO THE AIRPORT.."

On February 22, 1990, he failed his second attempt during the practical examination. Upon his reapplication, "AREA OF OPERATION: TASK V.A. (cross wind takeoff) NO OTHER OPERATIONS TESTED."

On March 25, 1990, he was reexamined and issued a multi-engine land rating using a Beech 55 airplane in which he reported a total flight time of 6.5 hours and a PIC time of 0 hours. He reported a total flight time of 845 hours.

On April 29, 2002, the pilot received a biennial flight review using a Piper PA-28R-200 during a local flight from MIC with a total flight duration of 1.1 hours.

On June 6, 2002, the pilot was involved in an accident at MIC, which was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board under accident number CHI02LA154. The Safety Board determined the probable cause(s) as follows: The pilot's failure to maintaining control of the aircraft during an aborted landing.

On August 7, 2002, the pilot received a reexamination of his airplane single-engine land rating using a Beech 36 airplane. The reexamination was conducted by a Federal Avia