Beechcraft 24R N4347W

Summary

On 11 May 2003 at about 19:10 local time, a Beechcraft 24R registered N4347W was involved in an accident near Wauseon, Ohio, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 May 2003 at 19:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Wauseon, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Fulton County (USE)

Coordinates

41.6017, -84.1169

Aircraft

Beechcraft 24R

Registration

N4347W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Troy → Wauseon

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD03FA053

3 people died.

The pilots failure to maintain control during the approach-to-landing. Factors were the high wind gusts and turbulence, and the pilot's decision to fly in those conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane departed on a VFR cross country flight from Michigan to Minnesota during high wind conditions. Less than an hour later, the pilot unsuccessfully attempted to land at an airport in Ohio. A review of the last 2 1/2 minutes of radar data revealed that as the airplane tracked toward runway 27, it descended from 1,900 feet msl to 900 feet msl (about 120 feet agl), and decelerated to a ground speed of 68 knots. Prior to the flight, the pilot had utilized a computer weather reporting system. At the time of the accident, the National Weather Service had issued an urgent message, which stated: "An intense low pressure system over the upper Great Lakes will cause strong southwest to west winds across southern Michigan...northern Indiana...and northwest Ohio today. Winds will be sustained at 25 to 35 mph with gusts of 45 to 55 mph much of the day. The wind conditions at the airport, at the time of the accident, were from the west-southwest between 30-40 mph, gusting to 40-50 mph. Runway 27 was 3,882 feet long and 75 feet wide, with 80-foot trees located on the north and south sides of the first third of it. The trees on the north side of the runway were about 200 feet from runway centerline, while the trees on the south side of the runway were about 550 feet from runway centerline. The airport manager described the turbulence between the two sections of trees as a "terrible, terrible funnel effect...with lots of rolling wind."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.