Beechcraft 35-33 N1344G

Summary

On 15 October 2000 at about 19:44 local time, a Beechcraft 35-33 registered N1344G, operated by Betty L. Alair, was involved in an accident near Monterey, California, 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

15 October 2000 at 19:44

Classification

Accident

Location

Monterey, California, United States

Nearest airport

Monterey Peninsula (MRY)

Coordinates

36.6128, -121.8711

Aircraft

Beechcraft 35-33

Registration

N1344G

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Betty L. Alair

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Monterey → Sacramento

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01FA014

2 people died.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision by which he conducted visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions and his failure to maintain control of the airplane. Contributing factors were low ceiling, spatial disorientation and lack of instrument rating.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument rated pilot, on a special visual flight rules departure clearance, encountered instrument meteorological conditions upon climbing into a layer of clouds. The pilot experienced spatial disorientation, commenced an uncontrolled descending spiral, and impacted the ocean. Prior to departure from the 254-foot msl airport, the pilot had been advised of the local weather conditions, which indicated the cloud base was about 700 feet agl, and the weather was deteriorating, with a decreasing ceiling and lowering visibility. A witness observed the airplane takeoff. The witness reported losing sight of the airplane seconds after it entered the base of the overlying marine layer of stratus clouds. Recorded radar data indicates that within 2 minutes the airplane had climbed to about 1,400 feet, whereupon it entered a right graveyard-like spiral from which it did not recover. Other witnesses located on the shoreline or in boats on the bay reported hearing the sound of an airplane in a dive and observed the airplane fly out of the clouds, diving steeply toward the water. The airplane pulled out of the dive, and then rolled inverted while climbing. Upon reaching the apex of its short climb it dropped suddenly into what appeared to be a straight downward dive and descended at a near 90-degree angle straight into the water. At no time did the airplane's engine sound as if it were under stress, faltering, or sputtering. The extensively crushed and fragmented wreckage was recovered from the bay and examined, with no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures identified.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.