Mitsubishi MU2B N322TA

Summary

On 5 May 2021 at about 04:01 local time, a Mitsubishi MU2B registered N322TA was involved in an accident near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. 6 people were on board and 3 died. One person on the ground also died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 May 2021 at 04:01

Classification

Accident

Location

Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Hattiesburg Bobby L Chain Muni (HBG)

Coordinates

31.2910, -89.2855

Aircraft

Mitsubishi MU2B

Registration

N322TA

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wichita Falls → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN21FA209

3 people died, including 1 on the ground.

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during the night instrument approach which resulted in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall from which the pilot was unable to recover.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was flying a nonprecision approach in instrument meteorological conditions at night. While flying the procedure turn for the approach, the airplane’s speed decayed toward the stall speed before the airplane accelerated back to the standard approach speed. During the descent from the final approach fix, the airplane’s descent stopped for about 30 seconds and then the airplane descended at a rate of about 1,300 ft per minute. The airplane decelerated and continued to descend until the airspeed was about 85 knots (about 7 knots above the calculated stall speed for flaps 20°) and the altitude was 500 ft mean sea level. The last recorded data point showed the airplane about 460 ft mean sea level and 750 ft from the accident site. The airplane impacted a private residence, and a postcrash fire ensued and destroyed the airplane. Impact signatures were consistent with a low-energy impact. Examination of the airframe and engines did not detect any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operations. Signatures on the engines and propellers were consistent with both engines providing power at impact. A review of the pilot’s toxicological information found that the level of eszopiclone in his specimens was subtherapeutic and thus not likely a factor in the accident. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with an inadvertent aerodynamic stall from which the pilot was unable to recover.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.