Beechcraft B19 N9740L

Summary

On 8 November 1998 at about 01:15 local time, a Beechcraft B19 registered N9740L, operated by Steve J Casida, was involved in an accident near Hobart, Oklahoma, 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

8 November 1998 at 01:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Hobart, Oklahoma, United States

Nearest airport

Hobart Municipal (HBR)

Coordinates

35.0209, -99.0909

Aircraft

Beechcraft B19

Registration

N9740L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Steve J Casida

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cordell → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW99FA020

2 people died.

The pilot's continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions and his failure to maintain terrain clearance. Factors were the low ceiling, fog, dark night conditions, and the pilot's failure to obtain a weather briefing prior to the flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument rated private pilot continued flight into dark night instrument meteorological conditions, and the airplane impacted terrain while maneuvering. Witnesses, located 2 1/2 miles west of the accident site, reported observing the aircraft descend out of the clouds with its navigation lights visible and then ascend back into the clouds. One of the witnesses stated that the weather conditions were 'IMC and foggy' and that the 'airplane seemed to be looking for the airport.' Another witness reported observing the airplane 'go down at a steep rate of descent and then pulled up and disappeared into the clouds.' A few minutes later, he 'saw an explosion and flames just over the hill.' A weather observation, taken 6 minutes prior to the accident, reported the visibility at 1 3/4 miles in mist and an overcast ceiling at 200 feet agl. No record was found of any preflight weather briefing obtained by the pilot. No anomalies were found with the airframe or engine that would have prevented normal operation. The levels of 1.182 (mg/dl, mg/hg) Norfluoxetine (metabolite of prozac) detected in liver and 0.055 (mg/dl, mg/hg) Norfluoxetine detected in blood were not high enough to cause impairment.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.