Beechcraft 58P N766BA

Summary

On 20 December 1991 at about 16:12 local time, a Beechcraft 58P registered N766BA, operated by D. Kaufman, was involved in an accident near Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 December 1991 at 16:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Flagstaff, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Flagstaff (FLG)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Beechcraft 58P

Registration

N766BA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

D. Kaufman

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Prescott → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX92FA065

2 people died.

**This report was modified on 4/21/2016. Please see the public docket for this accident for additional information.** the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed at low altitude, which resulted in a stall and loss of airplane control during a circling approach to landing in instrument meteorological conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

**This report was modified on 4/21/2016. Please see the public docket for this accident for additional information.**  The instrument-rated commercial pilot was executing a circling VOR/DME instrument approach in IFR conditions. The pilot reported the runway in sight and was circling to land west of the airport just before the accident. Witnesses reported that the airplane descended in a near vertical attitude from the overcast, striking a highway curb lane about .75 miles from the airport. No evidence of preimpact failures or malfunctions with the primary flight controls or engines was found. The pitch trim position could not be determined conclusively because the trim control cables were broken and disrupted by impact. However, evidence was not sufficient to conclude that full nose-down trim was present at the time of upset. An examination of the autopilot annunciator module indicated that the HDG, NAV, AUTOTRIM and FAIL warning lights may have been illuminated. When the autopilot detects a trim system failure, the trim servo is deactivated and the AUTOTRIM and FAIL warning lights will flash. The AUTOTRIM light will also flash if the trim master switch is turned off, making the autopilot system evidence inconclusive. Because the autopilot system evidence was inconclusive, the role of the autopilot in the accident could not be determined. However, airplane descent information provided by witnesses and impact evidence were consistent with an aerodynamic stall at low altitude and were not consistent with an uncorrected autopilot induced pitch-down excursion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.