Cessna 421C N421BL

Summary

On 5 March 1995 at about 20:55 local time, a Cessna 421C registered N421BL was involved in an accident near El Prado, New Mexico, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 March 1995 at 20:55

Classification

Accident

Location

El Prado, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

36.4692, -105.6205

Aircraft

Cessna 421C

Registration

N421BL

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Oklahoma City → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW95FA130

4 people died.

THE PILOT'S DECISION TO CONTINUE FLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND THE ENSUING INADVERTENT STALL DUE TO AIRFRAME ICE. FACTORS WERE THE WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE PILOT OBTAINED A WEATHER BRIEFING FOR THE IFR FLIGHT TO TAOS, NEW MEXICO, AND WAS ADVISED OF FORECAST CONDITIONS FOR LIGHT TO MODERATE RIME ICING AND MODERATE TURBULENCE AT HIS DESTINATION. DURING DESCENT, ABOUT 30 NM EAST OF THE TAOS VOR, AT 15,200 FEET, THE PILOT REPORTED 'LIGHT RIME ICING' AND 3 MINUTES LATER 'FREEZING RAIN.' THE AIRPLANE WAS CLEARED FOR THE VOR DME-B APPROACH TO THE TAOS AIRPORT, AND RADAR SERVICES WERE TERMINATED. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A STEEP NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE 7 NM SE OF THE VOR AND 1 NM RIGHT OF THE INBOUND APPROACH COURSE . WEATHER DATA INDICATED THAT THE AIRPLANE ENTERED CLOUDS ABOUT 6 NM EAST OF WHERE 'LIGHT RIME' WAS REPORTED AND REMAINED IN THE CLOUDS UNTIL IT DESCENDED BELOW 10,000 FEET. METEOROLOGICAL INVESTIGATION INDICATED THAT THE FREEZING LEVEL WAS ABOUT 10,700 FEET. RADAR DATA REVEALED CYCLIC VARIATIONS IN THE AIRPLANE'S GROUNDSPEED FROM 120 TO 190 KNOTS, AS IT CROSSED THE HIGH MOUNTAIN RANGE EAST OF TAOS. THERE WAS A PIREP OF SEVERE TURBULENCE ON THE EASTERN SLOPE OF THE MOUNTAIN RANGE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.