LAX82FA069

NTSB accident investigation · Beech 95-C55 · Twentynine Palm, CA · February 11, 1982

Accident · FatalField investigationFinal report
Date
February 10, 1982, 16:53 local (Feb 11, 1982, 00:53 UTC)
Place
Twentynine Palm, CA
Injuries
2 fatal
Damage
Destroyed
Phase of flight
Enroute
Aircraft
N200WJBeech 95-C55
Weather
Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
Status
Completed · report February 10, 1983
Report
Approved by Office Director
FAA report
19820210004009A
Case key
72888

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.

In flight encounter with weatherCruise - normal
Weather condition - fogFactor
Weather condition - rainFactor
Vfr flight into imc - continuedPilot in commandCause
Overconfidence in personal abilityPilot in commandFactor
Loss of control - in flightCruise - normal
Aircraft handling - improperPilot in commandCause
Diverted attentionPilot in commandFactor
Lack of total instrument timePilot in commandFactor
Spatial disorientationPilot in commandFactor
In flight collision with terrain/waterDescent - uncontrolled

Analysis

At 1605, the flt called blythe fss stating he was 25 mi east for landing. When he heard that his business associates in another acft were preparing to depart blythe for Twentynine palms, the plt cancelled his landing intentions & stated that they will be going on to Twentynine palms also. The plts in the other acft were on an IFR flt plan & stated that because of solid instrument flight conditions they did not have an opportunity to leave the ATC freq to communicate with N200WJ. The acft crashed in desert terrain 32 mi east of Twentynine palms. A witness stated that visibility at the accident site at 1630 was less than 1/4 mi with moderate rain. The plt did not have a multi-engine or instrument rating,and his class ii medical certificate had expired. The pax had undergone double bypass surgery in 1975 for severe occlusive coronary disease. The autopsy indicated that the bypass vessel had a freshly propagating clot, totally occluding the lumen.

Aircraft

Registration
N200WJ
Reported as
Beech 95-C55
Category
Airplane
Serial number
TE-252
Airframe hours
3,497
Engine
Continental IO-520-C, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Destroyed
Flight
Business · Part 91
Operator
Tom Bethal Construction Compan
Registered owner
Tom Bethal
Departed
SAD · Safford, AZ
Destination
TNP · Twentynine Palm, CA

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
41
Certificate
Private
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land
Medical
Class 2, Invalid Medical for flight
Flight hours
1,589 total · 326 in this make and model

Weather

Conditions
Instrument (IMC) · Dusk

FAA reports on this event · 1

The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.