Cessna 421C N67SR

Summary

On 27 November 2012 at about 03:24 local time, a Cessna 421C registered N67SR was involved in an accident near Wells, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 November 2012 at 03:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Wells, Texas, United States

Coordinates

31.4706, -94.9406

Aircraft

Cessna 421C

Registration

N67SR

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Houston → Tulsa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN13FA073

1 person died.

The pilot’s decision to continue the flight into an area of extreme weather, which led to the in-flight encounter with a thunderstorm and structural failure of the wings and tail.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in cruise flight, the twin-engine airplane encountered a severe thunderstorm that likely contained hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter. After penetrating the thunderstorm, the airplane's structure failed, which was evidenced by the pieces of the airplane being found up to 0.6 mile away from the main wreckage. The horizontal tail, which was found 0.25 mile from the main wreckage, had dents on the upper surface that were consistent with in-flight hail damage. The left horizontal stabilizer had failed in an upward direction, and the right horizontal stabilizer had failed in a downward direction, consistent with an extreme left roll rate. In addition, both left and right outboard wing sections were partially separated from the remainder of the wing. Although there was no record of the pilot having obtained a FAA weather briefing, it was not possible to determine if the pilot used other sources to obtain weather information prior to the flight. Records of in-flight communications indicated that the pilot was advised of adverse weather, including thunderstorms and moderate, heavy, and extreme precipitation about 15 minutes before his last transmission. At that time, the airplane was 40 miles from the storm. In addition, the pilot confirmed during communications that the airplane was equipped with on-board weather radar (which provided real-time weather), and the controller authorized him to deviate course, if necessary.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.