Cessna 402C accident near Lewisville, TX
On December 4, 2002, a Cessna 402C (airplane) was involved in an accident near Lewisville, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 4, 2002
- Place
- Lewisville, TX
- Aircraft
- Cessna 402C · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 33.170°N, 97.032°W
- NTSB ID
- 20021230X05643
Official records · FTW03FA054
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC Plot: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC Aircraft Accident Package: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On December 4, 2002, approximately 0616 central standard time, a Cessna 402C twin-engine airplane, N402ME, operating as TexStar Flight 114 (TXZ114) impacted the ground during an uncontrolled descent while maneuvering in the vicinity of Lewisville, Texas. The airplane was registered to Agnew Corporation of Denton, Texas, and operated by Tex Star Air Freight Inc., of Denton, Texas. The commercial pilot, who was the sole occupant, was fatally injured. Dark night Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight. The flight originated from the Denton Municipal Airport (DTO), Denton, Texas, at 0611, and its intended destination was Dallas Love Field (DAL), Dallas, Texas. The airplane was hangared at a maintenance facility located at DTO for an attitude indicator overhaul on December 3, 2002. On the morning of the accident, the airplane was fueled at 0550, and scheduled to depart at 0600. At 0608, the pilot obtained an IFR clearance from DTO to DAL, via direct, with vectors 090, and was instructed to maintain an altitude of 3,000 feet mean sea level (msl). The flight departed from Runway 35 at 0611. At 0614:33, the pilot contacted the approach controller and stated that his attitude indicator was "not helping" and needed help with "trying to keep" the aircraft "straight." The pilot was instructed to maintain an altitude of 3,000 feet msl. The approach controller verified that the pilot was unable to fly headings, and instructed the pilo
Probable cause
The failure of the attitude indicator, and the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control as a result of spatial disorientation following the failure of the attitude indicator. Contributing factors were a low ceiling, clouds, and dark night conditions.
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Browse: Texas · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
