Beechcraft A36TC N364JR

Summary

On 25 December 2003 at about 21:22 local time, a Beechcraft A36TC registered N364JR was involved in an accident near North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 6 people were on board and 6 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 December 2003 at 21:22

Classification

Accident

Location

North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Nearest airport

North Las Vegas (KVGT)

Coordinates

36.2017, -115.1942

Aircraft

Beechcraft A36TC

Registration

N364JR

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

North Las Vegas → Bullhead City

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX04FA078

6 people died.

An in-flight collision with terrain for an undetermined reason while the pilot was maneuvering to return for a landing during an unknown emergency.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the airplane declared an unspecified emergency with the air traffic control tower during his initial climb after takeoff, indicating that he needed to return for landing. A ground witness, a flight instructor, saw the airplane lift off about 1,000 feet down the runway, and watched the nose pitch up quickly to what he described as an "extremely nose high" attitude. He said the airplane began to "mush," and then leveled off. The landing gear was retracted about midfield. The airplane stopped mushing, but it was not gaining much altitude. At the end of the runway, it began turning to the right. During the turn, the nose of the airplane went up again, and the airplane began to mush. About 90 degrees through the turn, the airplane was about 250 feet above ground level, and 75 feet above power lines. About the same time, the left wing went up until the airplane approached a 90-degree angle of bank. The nose went down, and the airplane went straight into the ground. During the entire sequence, the instructor did not see any smoke, fluids, or parts coming from the airplane. The airplane was destroyed in the impact sequence and postcrash fire. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures were identified during an examination of the remaining wreckage. The nature of the emergency reported by the pilot was not ascertained.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.