Beech King Air 100Aviation Charter Inc.
Eveleth, MN, USA · 2002-10-25·N41BE
What happened
NTSB summary, verbatimThe Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. On October 25, 2002, about 1022 central daylight time, a Raytheon (Beechcraft) King Air A100, N41BE, operated by Aviation Charter, Inc., crashed while the flight crew was attempting to execute the VOR approach to runway 27 at Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, Eveleth, Minnesota. The crash site was located about 1.8 nautical miles southeast of the approach end of runway 27. The two pilots and six passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on-demand passenger charter flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
Photographs
4the aircraft, and what the investigators foundPhotographs are NTSB docket attachments — works of the US government, in the public domain. Captions are the Board’s own.
Probable cause
the Board's determinationThe flight crew's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover.
Safety recommendations
8 issuedwhat changed because of this accidentTO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Conduct en route inspections and observe ground training, flight training, and proficiency checks at all 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on-demand charter operations as is done at Part 121 operations and Part 135 commuter operations to ensure the adequacy, quality, and standardization of pilot training and flight operations.
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require that 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 on-demand charter operators that conduct dual-pilot operations establish and implement a Federal Aviation Administration-approved crew resource management training program for their flight crews in accordance with 14 CFR Part 121, subparts N and O. (Supersedes Safety Recommendation A-02-012)
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Convene a panel of aircraft design, aviation operations, and aviation human factors specialists, including representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to determine whether a requirement for the installation of low-airspeed alert systems in airplanes engaged in commercial operations under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 121 and 135 would be feasible, and submit a report of the panel's findings. (Superseded by A-10-12)
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: If the panel requested in Safety Recommendation A-03-53 determines that a requirement for the installation of low-airspeed alert systems in airplanes engaged in commercial operations under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 121 and 135 is feasible, establish requirements for low-airspeed alert systems, based on the findings of this panel. (Superseded by A-10-12)
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require the installation of a crash-protected image recording system on all turbine-powered, nonexperimental, nonrestricted-category aircraft that are manufactured after January 1, 2007, that are not equipped with a flight data recorder, and that are operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 135 and 121 or that are being operated full-time or part-time for commercial or corporate purposes under Part 91. (Superseded by A-09-9)
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Amend the current regulations for 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 91, 135, and 121 operations to require all turbine-powered, nonexperimental, nonrestrictedcategory aircraft that have the capability of seating six or more passengers to be equipped with an approved 2-hour cockpit voice recorder that is operated continuously from the start of the use of the checklist (before starting engines for the purpose of flight), to completion of the final checklist at the termination of the flight.
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require all turbine-powered, nonexperimental, nonrestricted-category aircraft that are manufactured prior to January 1, 2007, that are not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, and that are operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 91, 135, and 121 to be retrofitted with a crash-protected image recording system by January 1, 2007. (Supersedes A-99-60) (Superseded by A-09-10)
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require all turbine-powered, nonexperimental, nonrestricted-category aircraft, that are manufactured prior to January 1, 2007, that are not equipped with a flight data recorder, and that are operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 135 and 121 or that are being used full-time or part-time for commercial or corporate purposes under Part 91 to be retrofitted with a crash-protected image recording system by January 1, 2010. (Superseded by A-09-11)
NTSB analysis
from the final reportThe Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. On October 25, 2002, about 1022 central daylight time, a Raytheon (Beechcraft) King Air A100, N41BE, operated by Aviation Charter, Inc., crashed while the flight crew was attempting to execute the VOR approach to runway 27 at Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, Eveleth, Minnesota. The crash site was located about 1.8 nautical miles southeast of the approach end of runway 27. The two pilots and six passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on-demand passenger charter flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.