Cessna 401 N499W

Summary

On 18 March 1982 at about 19:10 local time, a Cessna 401 registered N499W, operated by Air Security Transport Corp., was involved in an accident near Sunflower, Arizona, United States. 7 people were on board and 5 died, 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

18 March 1982 at 19:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Sunflower, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

33.8298, -111.2591

Aircraft

Cessna 401

Registration

N499W

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Air Security Transport Corp.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Amarillo

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX82FA111

5 people died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

AT 1027 THE PLT RECEIVED A WX BRIEFING FOR HOLBROOK, AZ. THE PLT WAS TOLD OF FORECASTS FOR "AT LEAST MODERATE ICING IN CLOUDS OR IN PRECIPITATION ABOVE THE FREEZING LEVEL" & THE BRIEFER STATED "I GUARANTEE YOU MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE..." FOR A ROUTE INTO HOLBROOK. THE PLT LATER GOT WX INFO FOR AMARILLO, TX & FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN TO AMARILLO. THE ACFT DEPARTED AT 1150. AT 1204 THE PLT REPORTED HE HAD AN ENG PROBLEM. RADAR PLOTS INDICATE THE ACFT WAS MAINTAINING A CLIMB OF ABOUT 500 FPM UP TO 11,200 FT. THIRTY SECONDS LATER THE ACFT HAD DESCENDED TO 8,500 FT. RADIO & CONTACT WAS LOST ABOUT 1207. BASED ON A WX STUDY THE PROBABLE METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS THAT EXISTED ABOUT THE TIME & IN THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT WERE MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE BELOW 12,000 FT MSL & WHILE IN THE CLOUDS ABOVE FREEZING LEVEL THE ACFT LIKELY ENCOUNTERED MODERATE TO SEVERE RIME ICING. THE ACFT WAS NOT CERTIFICATED FOR FLT INTO KNOWN ICING CONDITIONS. THE FLT WAS TRANSPORTING PRISONERS FOR VARIOUS GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.