- Date
- February 14, 1990, 07:53 local (13:53 UTC)
- Place
- Putnam, TX
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N300CWMitsubishi MU-2B-60
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900214002199A
- Case key
- 23012
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
Improper planning/decision by the pilot, which resulted in excessive accummulation of structural icing (on the aircraft's wings, stabilizers, fuselage, and/or engine inlets), and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed and aircraft control. Factors related to the accident were: the pilot's inadequate weather evaluation due to lack of available information at the automated flight service station (afss), his failure to obtain additional information from other weather stations (either before takeoff or during the flight), his lack of experience in this make and model of aircraft, and icing conditions at cruise altitude.
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
Bfr tkof, san angelo afss briefer told the plt computers were dwn in south TX for 1.5 hrs & no current wx info was avbl. Current wx info was avbl at NWS at midland & fss's at midland, mcalester & de ridder, but the plt didn't call these, nordid the briefer adz him to do so. Plt didn't update wx in flt. Abt 38 min after tkof, in area of potential icing, acft slowed fm 270 to 150 KTS gs in 4 min, then slowed to 100 KTS in next 12 sec. Abt 33 sec bfr rchg 100 KTS, plt rqd dscnt fm 15,000' to 13,000'. At that time, true gnd track was aprx 080 deg with wnd aloft abt 213 deg at 43 KTS. Bfr ATC couldclr dscnt, acft dscndd to 14,800, then radar ctc was lost after 1 rtrn at 9700'. Dscnt rate btn last 2 alts: 12,750 fpm. No preimpact malfunction was fnd. IMC existed abv 12,500'. Frzg lvl was fcst at 10,000' to 12,000'. Acft was cert for flt in known icing conds, but status of anti-ice/de-ice equip wasn't dtrmd due to impact/fire dmg. Low lvls of ethanol were fnd in tox samples fm all occupants; however, there was evidence that the tox samples were unreliable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N300CW
- Reported as
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-60
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 795
- Airframe hours
- 2,600
- Engine
- Garrett TPE-331, 778 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Williams Aviation Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 7, 1990 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- MDD · Midland, TX
- Destination
- DAL · Dallas, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 10,327 total · 35 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABI, 26 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.