Beechcraft 1900D N75ZV

Summary

On 6 April 1997 at about 20:48 local time, a Beechcraft 1900D registered N75ZV was involved in an accident near Portland, Oregon, United States. 14 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 April 1997 at 20:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Portland, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Portland International (KPDX)

Coordinates

45.5098, -122.6905

Aircraft

Beechcraft 1900D

Registration

N75ZV

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Yakima

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97LA085

Nobody was injured.

the flightcrew's inadequate preflight, and the ramp agent's inadequate dispatch of the aircraft. The unsecured cargo door was a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The ramp agent handling the flight, who is required by company procedures to check doors secured during a pre-departure check, stated, '...upon my releasing them to taxi I did not notice anything different, all doors were closed.' The captain reported that as the gear was brought up on takeoff, the flightcrew heard a 'loud wind noise.' He stated that they had no indications of anything wrong on the annunciator panel (which contains a red CARGO DOOR warning light to indicate that the cargo door is open or not secure.) He reported that they then looked in the back of the aircraft, and the passengers told them that the cargo door had come open. The crew then returned to land. An inventory of the cargo compartment contents after landing revealed that no baggage had been lost. During postaccident examination of the aircraft, the aft cargo door locking handle was observed in the unlocked position as the door was swung down, and visual inspection of the aft cargo door locks, switches, and annunciator cargo door warning systems found no discrepancies with the aft cargo door or its indicating/warning system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.