- Date
- June 18, 1982, 18:56 local (Jun 19, 1982, 01:56 UTC)
- Place
- Fresno, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N74JTBeech H-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 70760
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
Just after lift-off from rwy 29R, the acft began to pitch up. As the pitch-up progressed, the plt applied right aileron & full right rudder. The acft responded by rolling to the right with the nose falling thru. Subsequently, the plt was able to pull out before the acft hit the ground. It collided with a 6 ft wire fence which tore off the engines & caused the acft to rotate clockwise on the ground. Cargo in the acft was thrown thru the side of the fuselage. The plt exited the acft without injury. The acft immediately burst into flames & the fuselage was badly burned. An investigation revealed that 2989 lbs of freight plus a 359 lb motorcycle were being carried between bulkheads 5 & 11. The bulkhead loads were limited to 450 lbs (5-8) & 300 lbs (8-10). The max gross weight at takeoff was estimated to be 10,310 lbs. The plt reported that none of the freight was tied down.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N74JT
- Reported as
- Beech H-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- BA-639
- Airframe hours
- 6,988
- Engine
- P & W R-985-14B, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- West States Air Taxi
- Registered owner
- West States Air Taxi
- Departed
- FAT · Fresno, CA
- Destination
- LAX · Los Angeles, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- FAT · Fresno Air Terminal, runway 29R, 9,218 × 150 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
- 27
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 3,767 total · 2,475 in this make and model · 3,636 as pilot in command · 130 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- 192 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FAT