- Date
- July 25, 1985, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- El Reno, OK
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N356BBeech H35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850725033699A
- Case key
- 21867
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
The acft took off at 1054 CDT in VMC with no flt plan. At that time, there was a rprtd ceiling of 1800 ft. at 1112 CDT, the plt rprtd he was at 10,000 ft, 'just reaching the tops.' At 1137 CDT, he stated 'we're about 60 west of oke city, westbound to sayre VOR & we're at 12,500 ft & not quite on top . .' Aprx 7.5 min later, the acft experienced an in-flt break-up & crashed while on a westerly hdg aprx 19 mi wsw of the departure arpt, well east of where the plt had last rprtd himself. The wreckage was scattered ovr a 4600 ft area along on a hdg of 292 deg. Witnesses rprtd hearing the eng at hi RPM, then heard a loud bang. Shortly thereafter, they saw pieces of the acft falling out of the clds. An exam revealed evidence the left wing & both ruddervators had sepd fm overload failure. The last entry in the plt's logbook was dated 11/1/84. His last recorded flt in a Beech 35 was on 2/2/84. An NTSB wx study showed cld bases at aprx 3000 ft,cld tops at 12,500 ft, lgt to mod rain & lgt to mod turbc below 14,000 ft. no pre-acdnt mechanical problems were found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N356B
- Reported as
- Beech H35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D4987
- Airframe hours
- 3,048
- Engine
- Continental O-470-G, 240 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Henry Gossage
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 4, 1985 · 58 hours before
- Departed
- PWA · Oklahoma City, OK
- Destination
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,280 total · 70 in this make and model · 1,182 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PWA, 20 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.
Other investigations on N356B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.