Beechcraft V35 N4890J

Summary

On 10 November 2001 at about 22:20 local time, a Beechcraft V35 registered N4890J was involved in an accident near Mounds View, Minnesota, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 November 2001 at 22:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Mounds View, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Anoka County/Blaine Airport (ANE)

Coordinates

45.0091, -93.1508

Aircraft

Beechcraft V35

Registration

N4890J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mounds View → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI02LA027

2 people were seriously injured.

Fuel starvation caused by the pilot's improper positioning of the fuel tank fuel selector while in the traffic pattern, and the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing. Factors relating to the accident were the pilot not complying with the emergency procedures checklist, and the tree.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said they departed Anoka County Airport (ANE) for some touch and go landings. The pilot said they performed two uneventful patterns and landings. As the airplane turned onto final approach for the third pattern, the engine stopped. The pilot recalled there was no roughness or sputtering prior to the complete loss of power. The airplane's flaps were set at 10-degrees and the landing gear was down. An engine restart was attempted with no success. The pilot said, "The landing gear was brought up to increase our glide distance but the airport could not be made. The terrain was wooded with homes interspersed. No good landing areas were apparent so I steered towards the trees rather than the homes. I then made an emergency call to the ANE control tower. We clipped trees with the right wing followed by the left wing. It was a hard impact and I was knocked unconscious soon after that. We landed nose first in a grove of trees close to a detached garage." The passenger in the rear seat said that they had been operating in the traffic pattern approximately 20 to 30 minutes when the engine quit. The passenger said the propeller continued to windmill. They turned base to final. Then the airplane's right wing hit a large tree. The airplane then went straight down. The passenger said as he got out of the airplane, he noted that fire was on the ground all around the airplane. The passenger said that when the airplane's engine quit, he noticed the right seat passenger reach over the pilot to get something. The passenger said the pilot tried to restart the engine, but it wouldn't start. An examination of the airplane's fuel system revealed the fuel selector valve positioned between the left and right tank lines providing no fuel to flow through the valve. An examination of the engine and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies. According to the airplane owner's manual, the Engine Failure checklist reads, "Fuel Selector - CHANGE TO OTHER CELL (check visually)"

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.