Beechcraft C24R N770DL

Summary

On 26 August 2009 at about 18:00 local time, a Beechcraft C24R registered N770DL, operated by Lovins Branch & Company PC, was involved in an accident near Sylva, North Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 August 2009 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Sylva, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Jackson County Airport (24A)

Coordinates

35.3172, -83.2097

Aircraft

Beechcraft C24R

Registration

N770DL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Lovins Branch & Company PC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

St. Louis → Sylva

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09LA483

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed during an aborted landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Following the 3-hour-and-40-minute, instrument-flight-rules, cross-country flight, the pilot approached the destination airport. The airplane descended from 9,400 feet mean sea level (msl) to 3,100 feet msl and entered the traffic pattern on a right downwind leg for runway 33. The pilot flew a low approach over the runway and then entered a left traffic pattern about 350 feet above the airport elevation. The pilot again approached the runway and slowed the airplane from 91 knots to 60 knots, and a witness observed the airplane touch down on the runway before it proceeded out of his view. The airplane impacted a wooded area beyond the departure end of the runway inverted and in a nose-down attitude. The airplane's recorded groundspeed for the final portion of the flight never exceeded 63 knots, and the calculated stall speed was 61 knots calibrated airspeed. The winds reported at an airport 12 nautical miles southwest were a left quartering tailwind at 3 knots. Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.