Smith, Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 601P accident near Bethany, OK
On July 23, 1999, a Smith, Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 601P (airplane) was involved in an accident near Bethany, OK. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 23, 1999
- Place
- Bethany, OK
- Aircraft
- Smith, Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 601P · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 35.499°N, 97.640°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X19259
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On July 23, 1999, at 1113 central daylight time, a Smith Aerostar 601P twin-engine airplane, N345LS, impacted terrain following a loss of engine power during the takeoff climb from the Wiley Post Airport, near Bethany, Oklahoma. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and fire. The instrument rated private pilot and his pilot rated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight destined for San Angelo, Texas. The pilot had filed an instrument flight rules flight plan for the trip; however, he did not open the flight plan at the time of departure. According to a pilot rated witness positioned behind the accident airplane on runway 17L, "the airplane's left engine was producing a black smoke during the takeoff roll." The witness stated that the airplane started to drift to the left after the takeoff roll. Shortly after takeoff, the witness heard the pilot transmit to the tower that "he had a problem." The witness stated that the pilot did not elaborate on the problem. Immediately after the radio call, the airplane appeared to "pitch nose high simultaneously yawing and rolling to the left." The witness reported that he saw the airplane roll over, nose down while turning and impact the ground. According to a second witness driving south on a street parallel to the runway, "the airplane's left engine was producing puffs of black smoke." The witness stated that "the exhaust was not in a steady stream like normal."
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain the minimum controllable airspeed. A factor was the disconnected rubber interconnect boot, which resulted in the partial loss of left engine power.
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Browse: Oklahoma
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
