Beech A36 accident near Plainview, TX
On May 30, 2015, a Beech A36 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Plainview, TX. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 30, 2015
- Place
- Plainview, TX
- Aircraft
- Beech A36 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.166°N, 101.716°W
- NTSB ID
- 20150530X04313
Official records · CEN15FA245
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn May 29, 2015, about 2115 central standard time, a Beechcraft A-36 airplane, N221D, impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Hale County Airport (PVW), Plainview, Texas. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight was being operated as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Night visual meteorological conditions existed at the accident site at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed. The flight departed PVW destined for Boerne Stage Field Airport, Boerne, Texas. A handheld GPS was retrieved from the accident site, Figure 1 depicts its downloaded data. It was revealed that the flight departed from runway 22 about 2119, banked left, and then reached about 80 ft above ground level (agl) at a groundspeed of 86 knots before the recording stopped less than 1 minute later. See Figure 5 for a wreckage diagram. Several witnesses reported seeing the airplane take off to the southwest, make a sharp left turn, and then head straight down. One of the witnesses stated that they could not believe anybody would take off in the approaching storm. Another witness reported that she was "watching the storm clouds" and heard an engine at "full throttle" and then looked over and saw the airplane "traveling very fast" toward the ground. Figure 1: Google Earth overlay showing the accident flight path. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and instrument ratings. No pilot logbooks were made availabl
Probable cause
The pilot’s decision to take off ahead of an approaching severe thunderstorm, which resulted in an encounter with hazardous weather conditions that led to a loss of airplane control.
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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.
