Cessna 421C N4467D

Summary

On 8 July 2009 at about 18:52 local time, a Cessna 421C registered N4467D, operated by Q4 Aviation LLC, was involved in an accident near Gulf of Mexico, United States. 5 people were on board and 5 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 July 2009 at 18:52

Classification

Accident

Location

Gulf of Mexico, United States

Coordinates

28.4456, -83.1225

Aircraft

Cessna 421C

Registration

N4467D

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Q4 Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Executive/Corporate

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McKinney → Tampa

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09FA389

5 people died.

The pilot’s decision to operate into a known area of adverse weather, which resulted in the inadvertent penetration of a severe thunderstorm, a subsequent loss of control, and in-flight breakup of the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Prior to the accident flight, the pilot indicated that he was aware of the thunderstorm activity along his route of flight and that he anticipated deviating around the weather as necessary. While enroute to his destination, the pilot requested and was provided both weather information and pilot reports from other aircraft by air traffic control (ATC). Upon encountering an area of thunderstorm activity that extended east-to-west across the route of flight, the pilot reported encountering significant turbulence, and then downdrafts of 2,000 feet per minute. He then requested a course reversal to exit the weather before he declared an emergency and advised ATC that the airplane was upside down. There were no further transmissions from the pilot and radar contact with the airplane was lost. Review of radar data revealed that the pilot had deviated south and then southwest when the airplane entered a strong and intense echo of extreme intensity. Visible imaging revealed that the echo was located in an area of a rapidly developing cumulonimbus cloud with a defined overshooting top, indicating the storm was in the mature stage or at its maximum intensity. Two debris fields were later discovered near the area where the cumulonimbus cloud had been observed. This was indicative that the airplane had penetrated the main core of the cumulonimbus cloud, which resulted in an inflight breakup of the airplane. Near the heavier echoes the airplane's airborne weather radar may have been unable to provide an accurate representation of the radar echoes along the aircraft's flight path; therefore the final penetration of the intense portion of the storm was likely unintentional.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.