Date & Time:
Mar 27, 1980 at 1452 LT
Type of aircraft:
Beechcraft 200 Super King Air
Operator:
Registration:
N456L
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Executive/Corporate/Business
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Lufkin – Denver – Nacogdoches
MSN:
BB-112
YOM:
1976
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
8
Pax fatalities:
8
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
10
Captain / Total hours on type:
550
Circumstances:
About 9 1/2 minutes after departure from Denver-Arapahoe County Airport, while climbing, the crew declared an emergency, reporting airframe icing. The crew was vectored to Denver-Stapleton International Airport when the aircraft entered a controlled descent until it crashed in a prairie located about 13 miles east of Arapahoe Airport, northeast of Parker. The aircraft was totally destroyed upon impact and all 10 occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The probable cause of the accident was the rapid accumulation of ice on the underwing surface aft of the deicing boots which destroyed the aircraft's capability to maintain level flight because the flightcrew: failed to obtain a current weather briefing before departure; failed to make a timely decision to discontinue the climb and return to Arapahoe Airport; and operated the over-gross-weight aircraft at high angles of attack in severe icing conditions.
Final Report:
N456L.pdf136.24 KB
