Cessna 320B N3RU

Summary

On 14 April 1985 at about 01:40 local time, a Cessna 320B registered N3RU was involved in an accident near Athens, Louisiana, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

14 April 1985 at 01:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Athens, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

32.6498, -93.0205

Aircraft

Cessna 320B

Registration

N3RU

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Dorado → Houston

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

Unk

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW85FA181

4 people died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE ACFT WAS ON AN INSTRUMENT FLT PLAN. THE PLT HAD RECEIVED A PRE TAKEOFF WEATHER BRIEFING. HE WAS BRIEFED ON THE AREA OF WEATHER THAT WAS AT THE ACFT'S TWELVE O'CLOCK POSITION FOUR MILES IN FRONT. THE AREA WAS THIRTY MILES SOUTHWEST AND TWENTY MILES WIDE. THE PILOT STATED HE HAD A SLIGHTLY HOT ENGINE RIDES OR ONE WAS A LITTLE ROUGH. THE AIRCRAFT WAS CLEARED TO SHREVEPORT, GIVEN VECTORS ANS DESCENDED. ALL RADIO AND RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST AT ABOUT 4000 FEET. NO MALFUNCTIONS WERE NOTED ON EITHER ENGINE. NO KNOWN MALFUNCTION FOUND WITH ACFT. TAIL LIGHT BULB FILAMENT SHOWED NO DIRECT CURRENT BEING APPLIED AT IMPACT. POSSIBILITY OF INFLIGHT LOSS OF DC POWER CAUSING PILOT TO LOSE CONTROL OF AIRCRAFT DURING DARK NIGHT AND TURBULENT INSTRUMENT FLIGHT. AIRCRAFT ALLOWED TO IMPACT SURFACE IN NEAR PAST VERTICAL NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. POSSIBLE INADVERTENT ACTIVATION OF CRASH BAR LOSS OF ALL ELECTRICAL. POSSIBLE PASSENGER MOTION SICKNESS

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.