Beechcraft E35 N3292C

Summary

On 8 April 2002 at about 15:15 local time, a Beechcraft E35 registered N3292C was involved in an accident near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 April 2002 at 15:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Boone Inc (NC14)

Coordinates

36.1514, -81.6153

Aircraft

Beechcraft E35

Registration

N3292C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hickory → Boone

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL02FA077

1 person died.

The pilot's continued VFR flight in to known IMC, which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees in mountainous terrain. A factor was low ceiling.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses reported hearing the airplane maneuvering in a valley between two mountain ridges before seeing a fireball. The wreckage was located in a wooded area at the 3,600-foot level of a mountain ridge. Wreckage debris was scattered approximately 150 feet along a 360-degree magnetic heading from a group of trees freshly broken at similar heights. A weather observation facility 3.4 nautical miles northwest of the accident site at an elevation of 3,200 feet issued ten weather reports between 0802 and 1102 at approximately 20-minute intervals. The highest reported visibility during that time frame was 3 statute miles, and the highest reported ceiling was 500 feet. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of pre-impact malfunction of the airframe or the engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.