Beechcraft V35B N4662M

Summary

On 18 January 2008 at about 22:00 local time, a Beechcraft V35B registered N4662M, operated by Robert G. Mollring, was involved in an accident near Selma, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 January 2008 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Selma, California, United States

Nearest airport

Fresno Chandler Executive (KFCH)

Coordinates

36.5650, -119.7239

Aircraft

Beechcraft V35B

Registration

N4662M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Robert G. Mollring

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fresno Chandler → San Diego

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX08FA047

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control resulting in the in-flight break-up of the airplane due to aerodynamic overload. Contributing factors included the pilot's impairment due to multiple medical conditions and due to recent use of alcohol.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was on an IFR cross-country flight in clear VFR conditions. The radar track was consistent with the flight's ATC clearance to the south-southeast in a steady 900-foot-per-minute climb. About 4 minutes after departure the pilot requested to leave the frequency for 1 minute, which the controller approved. The airplane vanished from radar 4 minutes later and entered a 5,400-foot-per-minute or greater rate of descent. A witness saw the airplane "disintegrate" in flight. The airplane wreckage was distributed along a 1,541-foot-long north-south debris field in the vicinity of the last radar return. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any evidence of a pre-existing airframe, engine, or flight control anomaly. The pilot had a history of episodic incapacitating pain, diabetes requiring insulin, the use of multiple potentially impairing medications, and a history of alcohol abuse. The pilot had not noted the pain, the diabetes, or the medications used to treat these conditions on his most recent application for airman medical certificate. The pilot's FAA medical records did note a history of driving while intoxicated in 1992, but the FAA had not requested any additional details surrounding the pilot's alcohol use. The pilot had been drinking alcohol within hours of the flight, and the forensic toxicology report was consistent with a blood alcohol level of approximately 0.07 percent at the time of the accident, sufficient to have resulted in impairment. The toxicology report also was consistent with the use of multiple prescription medications that are potentially impairing, but no blood was available for evaluation and it was therefore not possible to estimate when the medications might have been most recently used or whether the pilot may have been impaired by the medication use or by interactions between those medications and/or alcohol.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.