Cessna 208B N9469B

Summary

On 20 December 2003 at about 11:18 local time, a Cessna 208B registered N9469B was involved in an accident near Covington, Kentucky, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 December 2003 at 11:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Covington, Kentucky, United States

Nearest airport

Cincinnati\Northern Kentucky (CVG)

Coordinates

39.0461, -84.6619

Aircraft

Cessna 208B

Registration

N9469B

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Covington → Knoxville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

NYC04LA050

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate pre-flight inspection, which resulted in a decrease in airplane performance due to ice, and a subsequent hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the cargo flight reported that she arrived at the airplane at 0515 and performed a preflight inspection. The airplane was ready to depart about 0600 and she performed a final walk-around inspection prior to takeoff. The airplane had climbed to 300 to 400 feet above the runway, and was at an airspeed of about 120 knots, when it became "abnormally heavy on the flight controls," and "very unstable about its lateral axis (pitch control)." The pilot elected to reduce the throttle to idle and perform the rejected takeoff procedure. The airplane touched down in snow covered grass, about 85 feet approximately 85 feet off the left side of the runway. The airplane's landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage was buckled near the aft end of the cargo pod. Photographs taken by airport personnel shortly after the accident revealed areas of frost present on the wings and empennage. In addition, ice was observed on portions of the leading edges of the left and right wings. Examination of the airplane did not revealed any mechanical malfunctions. The Cessna 208B information manual, section 4, Normal Procedures, Cold Weather Operations, stated in part: "...Even small accumulations of frost, ice, or snow must be removed, particularly from wing, tail and all control surfaces to assure satisfactory flight performance and handling...." A weather observation taken at the departure airport about the time of the accident included a temperature and dew point of 16 degrees F.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.