Cessna 421 N300FB

Summary

On 14 January 2004 at about 22:30 local time, a Cessna 421 registered N300FB, operated by Nicholas Pate, was involved in an accident near Ravenna, Ohio, United States. 5 people were 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

14 January 2004 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Ravenna, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Portage County Airport (29G)

Coordinates

41.2100, -81.2514

Aircraft

Cessna 421

Registration

N300FB

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Nicholas Pate

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Executive/Corporate

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Battle Creek → Ravenna

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

NYC04LA067

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent hard landing. A factor in the accident was degraded aircraft performance due to the airframe ice accumulation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, the airplane encountered icing while flying in and out of the clouds, and as he performed a visual approach to the airport, a layer of ice had accumulated on the windshield. The pilot flew three approaches to the runway, attempting to "line up with the final," as well as clear ice off the windshield. During the third attempt, as the pilot flared to land, the co-pilot stated, "I have the flaps," and extended the flaps to the full position. Several seconds later, the airplane "stalled," at an altitude of 10 feet, and touched down hard on the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.