WPR25FA224

On July 26, 2025, about 2237 Pacific daylight time, a Beech 95-B55, N8976R, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Pacific Grove, California. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Review of recorded radio communications from the Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (NorCal Approach) revealed that the pilot requested flight following to Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), Monterey, California, after departure from San Carlos Airport (SQL), San Carlos, California. The controller provided a transponder code and advised the pilot to remain outside of the San Francisco Class Bravo airspace, to which the pilot acknowledged. The recordings depicted that the pilot had 3 frequency changes spanning the following 32 minutes. About 17 minutes after the pilot had obtained flight following, the controller obtained a Pilot Report (PIREP) from an airplane landing at MRY and quired the pilot if copied the PIREP, which the pilot acknowledged. The pilot then informed the controller he had obtained the current weather for MRY and requested the instrument landing system (ILS) 10R approach. Subsequently, the pilot was cleared to MRY via the ILS 10R approach. During the approach, the controller saw that the airplane had descended below the minimum vectoring altitude, and quired the pilot as to whether he was going around. The pilot replied “yes,” he was going around and requested vectors back to ZEBED; the ILS initial approach fix. The controller issued instructions for the pilot to turn to a westerly heading and climb to 3,000 ft, which the pilot acknowledged. Shortly after, the controller issued low altitude alerts for the accident airplane and despite multiple attempts, no further radio communication was heard from the pilot. Recorded ADS-B data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration showed that the airplane departed from SQL, runway 30 at 2211:03, and made a climbing left turn toward the south, before it leveled off at 5,500 ft mean sea level (msl). The data showed that at 2230:01, the airplane began a descent to an altitude of 2,400 ft msl. At 2233:42, the airplane made a left turn to an easterly heading and descended to an altitude of about 1,600 ft msl. At 2236:00 the airplane initiated a left descending turn. The data showed that the airplane continued in the descending left turn until ADS-B contact was lost over the Pacific Ocean at 2237:11, at an altitude of 200 ft msl, about 50 ft south of the accident site as seen in figure 1. Figure 1: ADS-B Flight Overlay with Accident Location. Witnesses near the accident reported hearing an airplane overflying their residence several times. One witness also reported hearing erratic engine noises and a low-flying airplane in a level left turn over their residence. The witness stated that the airplane turned to the north and entered a nose-down attitude until itdescended out of their visual range followed by a loud impact sound. At 2254, recorded weather at MRY was wind from 280° at 6 knots, visibility of 10 statute miles, ceiling overcast at 900 ft, temperature of 59°F, dew point 55°F, altimeter 29.99 inches of mercury, remarks included: an automated station with a precipitation sensor (AO2), and a ceiling height that varied between 600 and 1000 ft. The wreckage was located about 300 ft from the shoreline, submerged in water, at a depth of about 10 to 15 ft. The airplane was recovered to a secure location for further examination.