- Date
- February 18, 1988, 18:35 local (Feb 19, 1988, 00:35 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Charles, LA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5701KBeech S35
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report January 4, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880218002709A
- Case key
- 22538
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
Acft crashed into a lake shortly after being vectored onto the final approach course for an ILS at 1,500'. Two current IFR plts were on board. Wx at the time was 500' ovc with 10 miles vis and no convective activity or turbulence reported in the area. No evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction was found during the investigation and all of the nav facilities were grnd and flt checked and found to operating normally. There were no abnormal trim settings and the a/p was in the standby mode at impact. The approach course was in a published and active migratory bird flyway. Local ornithologists stated that large flocks of birds were known to be airborne at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5701K
- Reported as
- Beech S35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-7495
- Airframe hours
- 2,734
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-BA(3), 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard L. Schmidt, doing business as Wyandot Pilots, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Schmidt, Richard L
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 2, 1987 · 84 hours before
- Departed
- GWO · Greenwood, MS
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LCH · Lake Charles Munic., runway 15, 6,500 × 150 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
- 55
- 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
- 2,545 total · 2,157 in this make and model · 2,288 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 340° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LCH, 5 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.