Cessna 421C accident near Huntsville, TX

On April 25, 2017, a Cessna 421C (airplane) was involved in an accident near Huntsville, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

April 25, 2017

Place

Huntsville, TX

Aircraft

Cessna 421C · Airplane

Injuries

1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

30.794°N, 95.538°W

NTSB ID

20170425X60823

Official records · CEN17FA167

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• ATC communications (Houston Tracon - Tomball Satellite): Document (WAV), on ntsb.gov
• ATC Communications (Houston Tracon - College Satellite) - Shelf Item: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn April 25, 2017, about 1038 central daylight time, a Cessna 421C airplane, N421TK, impacted trees and terrain near Huntsville, Texas. The commercial pilot was fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to Klass Enterprises, LLC, and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Day visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the postmaintenance test flight, which originated from Lone Star Executive Airport (CXO), Conroe, Texas, about 0952. The pilot was receiving visual flight rules (VFR) flight-following services from Houston Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) and intended to conduct a practice RNAV approach at CXO. At 1030, about 38 minutes after departure, at an altitude about 2,400 ft mean sea level (msl), the pilot reported an oil leak and requested to proceed directly to the airport. The controller advised that Huntsville Municipal Airport (UTS), Huntsville, Texas, was closer, and the pilot elected to proceed to UTS. The controller then issued a heading to position the airplane for a right base leg for runway 18 and stated that the airport was at the pilot's 1-o'clock position, 7 miles away. The pilot acknowledged and turned the airplane onto the issued heading. Radar data indicated that, about 1030:05, the airplane began a left turn to a heading about 70°. This heading would have taken the airplane about 2 miles north of the approach end of runway 18 at UTS. During the turn, the airplane began t

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to identify the alternate runway, to perform a timely precautionary landing, and to maintain airplane control. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the left engine due to oil starvation for reasons that could not be determined based on the postaccident examination.

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Browse: Texas · Cessna aircraft

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.