Incident Overview

Date: Friday 25 October 2002
Aircraft Type: Beechcraft A100 King Air
Owner/operator: Aviation Charter
Registration Number: N41BE
Location: 3,3 km SE of Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, MN (EVM) – ÿ United States of America
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Component Affected: Aircraft (A Beechcraft A100 King Air)Aircraft (A Beechcraft A100 King Air)
Investigating Agency: NTSBNTSB
Category: Accident
A Beechcraft A100 King Air, N41BE, crashed during an on-demand passenger charter flight to St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) from Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport (EVM), operated by Aviation Charter, Inc. The flight crew, consisting of two pilots and six passengers, perished in the crash. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire, and the airplane was lost. The flight was executed as an instrument flight rules flight plan, with controller communication indicating a potential issue with the flight crew’s airspeed control.A Beechcraft A100 King Air, N41BE, crashed during an on-demand passenger charter flight to St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) from Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport (EVM), operated by Aviation Charter, Inc. The flight crew, consisting of two pilots and six passengers, perished in the crash. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire, and the airplane was lost. The flight was executed as an instrument flight rules flight plan, with controller communication indicating a potential issue with the flight crew’s airspeed control.

Description

A Beechcraft A100 King Air, N41BE, operated by Aviation Charter, Inc., crashed while the flight crew was attempting to execute the VOR approach to runway 27 at Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, MN (EVM). The two pilots and six passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. The airplane was being operated as an on-demand passenger charter flight to fly U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone and his staff from St. Paul Downtown Airport, MN (STP) to Eveleth. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The flight departed St. Paul at 09:37 and climbed to the cruising altitude of 13.000 feet. At 10:19, the controller stated, “king air one bravo echo change to advisory frequency approved[;] advise cancellation of ifr with the Princeton flight service when on the ground.” The co-pilot acknowledged the instruction. This was the last transmission received by ATC from the accident airplane. Radar data indicate that at this time, the airplane began its descent from 3,500 feet and that its airspeed stopped decreasing about 155 KCAS and began increasing. The airplane’s airspeed increased to about 170 KCAS and its vertical speed increased through 1,000 feet per minute (fpm) as it descended through 3,200 feet. The airspeed stabilized briefly at about 170 KCAS and the vertical speed peaked at about 1,400 fpm. At 10:20, as the airplane passed through (south of) the approach course about 5 miles east of the runway 27 threshold, a slight right turn was initiated, and the airplane’s airspeed and vertical speed began decreasing. The airplane established on a ground track of about 269ø and maintained this track. The last two radar returns indicate that the airplane had slowed to about 76 KCAS at 1,800 feet. The airplane impacted the ground about 1.8 miles southeast of the approach end of runway 27. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The flight crew’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover.”

Primary Cause

The flight crew’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed, leading to an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover.The flight crew’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed, leading to an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover.

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