Beechcraft 58 N4574Q

Summary

On 16 September 1998 at about 12:45 local time, a Beechcraft 58 registered N4574Q was involved in an accident near Oakdale, Wisconsin, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 September 1998 at 12:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Oakdale, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Volk Field (VOK)

Coordinates

43.9810, -90.5008

Aircraft

Beechcraft 58

Registration

N4574Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Madison → Siren

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI98FA349

3 people died.

The installation of the door seal inflation system by company personnel. An additional cause was the emergency procedures not followed by the pilot-in-command. A contributing factor was the trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

At 8,100 feet mean sea level (msl), the pilot reported smoke coming from the aircraft at 0739:32 central daylight time. At 0743:14, the aircraft altitude was 3,000 feet msl. The last received transmission by the pilot was at 0743:01. The Beech 58 Pilot's operating manual, states, under ELECTRICAL SMOKE OR FIRE, that the Battery and Alternator Switches are to be selected in the OFF position. A resistor, similar in size, shape and color to two of the resistors in the door seal inflation system was found attached to the right cabin side wall. The area surrounding the resistor revealed that a black material attached to the interior side wall was absent. There was bubbling of the black material and outside paint. Black material similar to the material on the side wall was also present on the bottom of the resistor. Installation instructions referencing the resistor, state, 'mount to metal structure for heat sink'. An emergency descent from an altitude of 8,000 feet msl was performed in a flight training simulator and a descent rate of approximately 6,200 feet per minute was obtained. A simulated off airport landing, in a simulator, was completed in approximately 02:15 minutes. Airworthiness Directive 98-21-21 has been issued for the deactivating or the removing of all provisions of the inflatable door seal installation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.