Cessna 340 accident near Bartow, FL
On December 24, 2017, a Cessna 340 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Bartow, FL. 5 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 24, 2017
- Place
- Bartow, FL
- Aircraft
- Cessna 340 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 5 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 27.946°N, 81.774°W
- NTSB ID
- 20171224X03602
Official records · CEN18FA061
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Air Traffic Control Package Excerpt - Transcripts: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 24, 2017, at 0717 eastern standard time, a Cessna 340 airplane, N247AT, impacted terrain after departure from Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW), Bartow, Florida. The private pilot and four passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to Aviation Transportation LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident with a planned destination of Key West International Airport (EYW), Key West, Florida. The pilot filed an IFR flight plan on a Garmin GPS device and received an IFR clearance from the Tampa air traffic control tower. The BOW air traffic control tower was closed at the time of the accident. According to two fixed base operator (FBO) employees at BOW, the pilot requested that the airplane be towed from the hangar to the ramp. The pilot stated that he wanted a tow so that he did not have to taxi next to the other hangars because of reduced visibility and dense fog. About 0645, the five occupants boarded the airplane and the FBO employees towed it to the ramp. The FBO employees stated that the pilot started the engines and that they watched as the airplane very slowly taxied toward the end of runway 9L. The fog limited their visibility to about 400 ft. They could no longer see the airplane in the dense fog, so they moved to an area on the ramp
Probable cause
The pilot's loss of control due to spatial disorientation during takeoff in instrument meteorological conditions.
More accidents in FL
- Grumman G-73T, Dec 19, 2005
- Beech B90, Jan 5, 1994
- Beech B-90, Sep 3, 1999
- Cessna 182B, Feb 7, 1982
- Pilatus Aircraft Ltd PC-12/47, Jun 7, 2012
Browse: Florida · 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.
