Beechcraft A36 N7253Z

Summary

On 6 March 2003 at about 04:40 local time, a Beechcraft A36 registered N7253Z was involved in an accident near Sparta, Illinois, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 March 2003 at 04:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Sparta, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Sparta Community Airport (SAR)

Coordinates

38.0772, -89.6931

Aircraft

Beechcraft A36

Registration

N7253Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Duluth → Sparta

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CHI03FA078

2 people died.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision by his flight into known icing conditions which resulted in airframe icing and degraded aircraft performance until the onset of a stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane encountered moderate icing conditions during cruise flight and impacted trees and terrain while the pilot attempted to divert to an alternate airport. The pilot reported to air traffic control (ATC), on several occasions, that the airplane had accumulated structural ice. The pilot passed several airports before ultimately diverting to a nearby airport because of degraded aircraft performance. The pilot told ATC that, "we're gonna need vectors...we're not gonna make it up there, we're already in stall mode, for this airplane is full of ice." The airplane impacted trees and terrain about 4.3 nautical miles south of the airport. The accident occurred at night in instrument meteorological conditions. An AIRMET for icing conditions had been issued for occasional moderate rime and mixed icing while in clouds and precipitation below 15,000 feet msl. Several PIREPs indicated moderate rime and mixed icing between 2,500 and 6,000 feet msl. The airplane was not equipped with deicing equipment and was not approved for flight into known icing conditions. The aircraft's pilot operating handbook states that, "Flight into icing conditions is prohibited."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.