Cessna 402B N402BP

Summary

On 10 March 2009 at about 12:40 local time, a Cessna 402B registered N402BP, operated by Business Aviation Courier, Inc., was involved in an accident near Aberdeen, South Dakota, 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

10 March 2009 at 12:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Aberdeen, South Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Aberdeen Regional Airport (KABR)

Coordinates

45.4492, -98.4219

Aircraft

Cessna 402B

Registration

N402BP

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Business Aviation Courier, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sioux Falls → Aberdeen

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

CEN09LA206

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's continued flight into adverse weather and icing conditions, and his failure to maintain aircraft control resulting in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the accumulation of airframe ice and the strong, gusting crosswinds.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The cargo flight encountered moderate icing conditions during the initial climb to the planned cruise altitude. The deice boots, pitot tube heat, stall vane heat, propeller deice, and windshield hot plate were used throughout the flight. The flight was subsequently cleared to a higher altitude, where it remained above the cloud tops and did not accrue any additional ice. The unprotected areas of the wings and windshield were still contaminated with ice when the pilot began his initial descent into the destination airport. The unprotected areas of the airplane continued to accrue ice while being vectored to join the instrument approach to runway 31. The pilot reported having difficulty aligning the airplane with the runway because the windshield was obscured by ice, except for a narrow section protected by the hot plate. The airplane crossed over the runway threshold at 120 knots indicated airspeed. The pilot stated that immediately prior to touchdown he had the sensation of a high sink rate, which was followed by the hard landing. After the flight, there was 1 to 1-1/2 inches of ice accumulation on the unprotected areas of the airplane. The protected areas of the wing, tail, windshield, and propeller blades were free of any appreciable ice contamination. The right wing primary structure, including the main wing spar and engine nacelle assembly, was substantially damaged during the hard landing. The local winds were 360 degrees true at 22 knots, gusting to 30 knots. During the accident flight, there was an active advisory for moderate icing conditions below 15,000 feet mean sea level and a freezing level at the surface.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.