North Adams-Harriman and West

The pre-takeoff instrument flight rules clearance for the flight called for the airplane to climb and maintain 5,000 feet, and to expect flight level 220, 10 minutes after departure. The clearance was read back correctly by a member of the flight crew. Shortly after takeoff, a member of the flight crew asked air traffic control for a higher altitude, and then stated 'uh, you want us at twenty two hundred.' The approach controller transmitted 'should be at five thousand;' however, there were no further transmissions from the airplane. The airplane wreckage was located at an elevation of about 2,300 feet, approximately 4.8 miles west of the departure airport. The airplane impacted wooded up-sloping terrain. Several broken trees were observed, which led to the beginning of the debris path. The trees were broken at about the same height. A weather observation taken at an airport about 12 miles north-northwest of the accident site, about the time of the accident included: few Clouds at 300 feet and a ceiling of 1,700 feet overcast.

The airplane had undergone routine maintenance for slow acceleration on the right engine. Maintenance records revealed the fuel controls were changed from the right engine to the left engine. The airplane was released back to the pilot for service, and he departed for his home station. Several witnesses saw the airplane after takeoff at a low altitude, and at a slow speed. The airplane turned left, and the left wing struck the ground. Two witnesses saw the airplane pass by them at a low altitude, and wrote, '...at this point we could see the left (port) engine propeller was turning very slowly. You could actually see the individual blades of the propeller turning.' A complete disassembly of both engines, revealed no discrepancies other than impact, and post impact fire damage. Disassembly of the left propeller indicated that the propeller blades were at or near feather at impact. The pilot had a total of 106 flight hours in Beech A100 aircraft, all in the 90 days prior to the accident, and 56 hours in the 30 days prior to the accident.

At 1145 the pilot reported VFR conditions and requested radar vectors to the airport. He was issued a cruise clearance of 5,000 feet and given a heading. 18 miles from the airport he reported visual contact with the ground. At 1151 he was asked if he was familiar with the area to which he responded negative. He was then advised of rising terrain in all quadrants, including a mountain '...to almost 3,700 feet, three miles south of the airport.' At 1154 the pilot was advised that the airport was less than a mile at 12 o'clock. The aircraft impacted a mountain two miles south of the airport at about 2,700 feet msl. A witness described the sky conditions as a low ceiling with clouds obscuring the mountain peaks. The airport is uncontrolled and has no published instrument approach procedure. Both occupants were killed.