Cessna 401 N5AS

Summary

On 22 January 1997 at about 19:26 local time, a Cessna 401 registered N5AS, operated by Air-One, was involved in an accident near Crystal, Minnesota, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 January 1997 at 19:26

Classification

Accident

Location

Crystal, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Crystal (MIC)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 401

Registration

N5AS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Air-One

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Lansing

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI97FA059

2 people had minor injuries.

failure of the pilot-in-command to ensure adequate removal of airframe ice from the aircraft during preflight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After landing at the airport, the airplane was taxied to a fixed base operator to pick up a passenger. Rime ice, as thick as two inches was seen on the airplane, and the pilots of the airplane attempted to manually remove the ice. The airplane was topped off with fuel before departure. During departure from runway 31R, the airplane collided with a fence. Numerous areas of ice were found on the airplane following the accident. Both propellers had similar damage. The pilots had reported to the FAA that the left engine had sustained a loss of power. The passenger reported that he did not notice any loss of power from either engine. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the left engine was found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.