- Date
- September 7, 1988, 16:03 local (20:03 UTC)
- Place
- Morriston, FL
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9525RBeech K35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880907037499A
- Case key
- 32041
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 student pilot was about 47 miles from home and nearing completion of a x-c flt with his wife, father, and mother. The plt had reqsted VFR flight following & had been cruising at 6500 ft. the plt advised ATC they were down to 6250 ft & needed to descend further to remain VFR. ATC advised the flt there was opposite IFR traffic who had advised he was 'in solid' & reqsted the VFR flt to delay descent if possible until traffic was clear. The plt agreed but said 'well ok, I'm going to be in the clds.' About 45 secs later, the plt advised, 'oh yeah, we're we're in a spin, I'm not sure which way we're goin' here, I've lost it, I'm sorry. ' a grnd witness heard the engine rev up in the clds, looked up & saw the fuselage minus wings & tail spinning from ovrcst. The witness said VFR condtns prevailed at grnd level. The plt had owned acft about 2 yrs but never regsted it & there was no annual insp performed. No plt or acft logbooks were found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9525R
- Reported as
- Beech K35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-6075
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-N, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mark D. Merrill
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- AVL · Asheville, NC
- Destination
- BKV · Brooksville, FL
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 40 total · 10 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GNV, 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.