Beechcraft A36 N88855

Summary

On 20 November 2019 at about 12:00 local time, a Beechcraft A36 registered N88855, operated by Caroline Aviation Llc, was involved in an accident near San Marcos, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 November 2019 at 12:00

Classification

Accident

Location

San Marcos, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

San Marcos (KHYI)

Coordinates

29.9000, -97.8525

Aircraft

Beechcraft A36

Registration

N88855

Category

Airplane

Year built

1999

Engines

1

Operator

Caroline Aviation Llc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Marcos → Odessa

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

CEN20FA019

1 person died.

The pilot’s loss of control shortly after takeoff in instrument meteorological conditions for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot filed an instrument flight rules flight plan for the cross-country flight and received a departure clearance. A witness reported seeing the accident airplane taxi by his hangar before it departed and noted that the visibility at the time was less than the 1/4-mile reported by the airport’s weather observation facility. The airplane departed and was seen on radar before contact was lost shortly thereafter; the pilot never established radio communication with air traffic control. The airplane impacted terrain in a near-vertical attitude about 1/2-mile from the departure runway. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Low instrument flight rules conditions prevailed in the area of the departure airport, including a cloud ceiling of about 300 ft above ground level. The airplane’s sudden descent and near-vertical impact attitude are consistent with a loss of control shortly after takeoff; however, due to a lack of onboard data and complete radar data for the flight, the reason for the loss of control could not be determined based on the available information.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.