Beech C90 accident near Rocksprings, TX
On December 14, 2008, a Beech C90 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Rocksprings, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- December 14, 2008
- Place
- Rocksprings, TX
- Aircraft
- Beech C90 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 30.171°N, 100.588°W
- NTSB ID
- 20081214X12133
Official records · CEN09FA087
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On December 14, 2008, approximately 1500 hours central standard time, a Beech C90A King Air, N43KM, registered to and operated by Western Wings Corp., Roseburg, Oregon as a 14 CFR Part 91 flight, impacted terrain following a descent from cruise flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed. The airplane was substantially damaged by the impact forces. The commercial pilot, who was the only occupant, was fatally injured. The airplane had departed the Hondo Municipal Airport (HDO) Hondo, Texas at approximately 1425, en route to the Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) Goodyear, Arizona. The pilot was cleared to 17,000 feet approximately 7 minutes after takeoff. After arriving at 17,000 feet, the pilot began a meandering flight path increasingly off course that continued through the end of the flight, even after several prompts from the controller. He was cleared to flight level 240 (24,000 feet) after about 6 minutes at 17,000 feet, and about 2 minutes later, while passing through about 18,000 feet, he made his last radio transmission, acknowledging a corrected heading. About 6 minutes later, he arrived at 24,000 feet, and did not make any intelligible responses to controller inquiries at that time or for the remainder of the flight. At 1456 he descended to 21,000 feet before beginning a rapid descent. Several witnesses reported seeing the airplane just before it impacted terrain. The first call to 9-1-1 emergency was logged at 1500. The accident flight was the first flight following an aircraft r
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to properly configure the pressurization controls, resulting in his impairment and subsequent incapacitation due to hypoxia.
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Browse: Texas · Beech 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.
