Beechcraft V35 N9439S

Summary

On 18 February 2003 at about 15:00 local time, a Beechcraft V35 registered N9439S was involved in an accident near Sparta, Michigan, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 February 2003 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Sparta, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Sparta Airport (8D4)

Coordinates

43.1283, -85.6772

Aircraft

Beechcraft V35

Registration

N9439S

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pontiac → Sparta

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI03LA072

Nobody was injured.

The pilots improper decision to fly into known adverse weather, and his failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall. A contributing factor was airframe icing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane landed hard and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane subsequently impacted a snow bank. The pilot stated he received two preflight weather briefings and decided to make the flight under visual flight rules due to reports of icing conditions in the clouds. He indicated he experienced freezing rain during cruise. The stated that he requested and received an instrument flight rules clearance and climbed above the clouds. He stated that he used a VOR approach for landing and did not experience any icing while on approach. The pilot indicated he lowered the flaps and the aircraft began to descend rapidly, subsequently impacting the runway and collapsing the left main landing gear. A witness reported the aircraft had 1/2 to 3/4 inch of ice on the leading edge of the tail and wings. The weather observation facility 18 miles to the southeast, reported the weather about the time of the accident as: winds 200 degrees magnetic at 8 knots; visibility 2 statute miles with freezing drizzle; sky condition overcast 500 feet above ground level; temperature -3 degrees Celsius; dew point -4 degrees Celsius; pressure 29.98 inches of mercury.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.