Beechcraft V35 N5459U

Summary

On 23 May 1997 at about 21:48 local time, a Beechcraft V35 registered N5459U, operated by Donald W. Grogan, was involved in an accident near Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 May 1997 at 21:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States

Coordinates

35.3309, -96.9105

Aircraft

Beechcraft V35

Registration

N5459U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Donald W. Grogan

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Minot

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97FA199

3 people died.

The pilot's inadvertent entry into a spin. A factor was the pilot's initiated flight into adverse weather.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The noninstrument-rated private pilot called the FSS for a weather briefing. The briefer recommended to the pilot to 'not fly VFR.' The pilot stated to the briefer that 'I'm not going to fly with those [weather] conditions.' The pilot departed on runway 17, at approximately 1643. The airplane climbed to approximately 2,000 feet agl before it began descending. Several witnesses observed the airplane 'spinning very rapidly out of the clouds to the ground.' A witness reported that he (the witness) departed the airport approximately 20 to 30 minutes before the accident. He stated that the local area weather was: visibility 5 miles with haze, cloud condition generally overcast with some areas of occasional broken, cloud bottoms were at approximately 1,500 feet agl, and the cloud tops were approximately 2,200 feet agl.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.