- Date
- November 16, 2001, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Altus, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N432LBeech BE-50
- Status
- Completed · report April 8, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20011116034519A
- Case key
- 53893
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
The pilot's improper flare and his failure to maintain directional control. A contributing factor was the ditch.
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
Fog was encountered during the day IFR cross-country flight and the pilot elected to divert to a nearby municipal airport. The single-engine land rated private pilot inadvertently landed the multiengine airplane at a military base. Subsequently, the airplane departed from the military base en route to the municipal airport. During the landing at the municipal airport, the airplane landed hard, bounced, departed the runway, rolled through a ditch, and the nose landing gear collapsed. Numerous attempts to obtain a completed Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) from the pilot were unsuccessful.
Factual narrative
On November 16, 2001, approximately 1500 central standard time, a Beech BE-50 twin engine airplane, N432L, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing at the Altus Mountain Regional Airport (AXS), near Altus, Oklahoma. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The single-engine land rated private pilot did not receive injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at Altus; however, the aircraft encountered fog along the planned route and diverted to Altus. The flight originated from Altus Air Force Base. A flight plan was not filed.
The pilot reported that during an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to Slaton, Texas, a fog bank, which extended to the ground, was encountered about 20 nautical miles from Altus, Oklahoma. The pilot elected to land the airplane at AXS, but inadvertently landed at Altus Air Force Base. Subsequently, the aircraft departed the military base and landed at AXS.
The FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, reported that the airplane landed hard, bounced, and departed the runway. Subsequently, the airplane rolled through a ditch, collapsing the nose landing gear.
Examination of the airplane by the FAA inspector revealed structural damage to both engine mounts, and the nose landing gear assembly. Additionally, the generator mounting pad for the left engine was damaged, and the propeller blades were bent aft. The hobbs meter reading was 2,383.1 hours.
The previous owner of the airplane reported that the airplane had been sold to the pilot approximately 2 weeks prior to the accident.
Numerous attempts to obtain a completed Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) from the pilot were unsuccessful.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N432L
- Reported as
- Beech BE-50
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- CH-164
- Airframe hours
- 2,383.1
- Engine
- Lycoming GO-480-14AG, 295 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rodger C. Seratt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- POF · Altus, OK
- Destination
- AXS · Altus, OK
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- AXS · Altus Mountain Regional, runway 17, 5,501 × 75 ft, concrete
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
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N432L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.