Beechcraft 58 N4178S

Summary

On 2 October 1996 at about 17:12 local time, a Beechcraft 58 registered N4178S, operated by Paragon Express, was involved in an accident near Jackson, Mississippi, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 October 1996 at 17:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Jackson, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Jackson International (JAN)

Coordinates

32.2592, -90.0899

Aircraft

Beechcraft 58

Registration

N4178S

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Paragon Express

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Memphis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA97LA001

1 person was seriously injured.

the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane resulting in an in flight collision with the runway. A factor in this accident was the pilot diverted his attention away from flying the airplane to fix his shoe lace.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he was rolling down the runway, had reached rotation speed, rotated, and started climbing. After attaining a positive rate of climb, he selected gear up. The pilot had stated, 'then I felt that my right shoe lace was caught on something.' While the airplane was climbing, he bent down to fix his shoe lace. He estimated that 1-2 seconds had past while fixing his shoe lace. He thought that he had enough back pressure for the plane to climb, but stated, 'maybe I pushed the yoke a little forward with my chest.' When he was getting up from fixing his shoe lace, he noticed that the plane was going down. The airplane hit the runway, then bounced back in the air. While in the air, the pilot tried to get the gear down, but it would not come down. The airplane hit the runway again, and slid down the runway until it came to a stop. The pilot had also stated to the FAA, that he did not have any mechanical problems with the airplane or engines.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.