Raytheon Corporate Jets BE-400A accident near Beckley, WV
On April 17, 1999, a Raytheon Corporate Jets BE-400A (airplane) was involved in an accident near Beckley, WV. 6 people were seriously injured. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- April 17, 1999
- Place
- Beckley, WV
- Aircraft
- Raytheon Corporate Jets BE-400A · Airplane
- Injuries
- 0 fatal, 6 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 37.780°N, 81.180°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001205X00546
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 17, 1999, about 1451 Eastern Daylight Time, a Raytheon BE-400A, a BeechJet, N400VG, was substantially damaged while landing at the Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW), Beckley, West Virginia. Two flight crew members, and four passengers were seriously injured. Two passengers sustained minor injures. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida, about 1310. The corporate flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to the pilot-in-command (PIC), he and the co-pilot flew from BKW, to PBI, the day before the accident. They arrived back at the airplane the following day about 1.5 to 2.0 hours prior to departure. The PIC described the return flight to BKW as uneventful. During the descent into the Beckley area, they received the automated weather observation system (AWOS) information and the PIC noted that there were some "pretty stiff winds;" however, he was not concerned, and asked the co-pilot to "bump up" the "Vref speed" an additional 5 knots. The PIC said he conducted a visual approach to Runway 28, a 5,000 foot long, 100 foot wide, asphalt runway, and he utilized the runway's visual approach slope indicator (VASI) lights until the airplane reached "short final." He said that the final approach was extremely bumpy, but the airplane made a smooth, normal touchdown on the runway, and did not bounce. Additionally, he commanded deployment of the airplane's speed brakes, which was acknowledged
Probable cause
The pilot-in-command misjudged his altitude and airspeed which resulted in an overrun. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's lack of total flight experience in make and model, the pilot's reliance on the airplane's optional thrust reverser system and his inability to engage the airplane's thrust reverser system for undetermined reasons.
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Browse: West Virginia
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
