Moses Lake

The aircraft crashed during an instrument approach in IMC at Spokane-Intl Airport. The aircraft hit a hill about 4.5 miles from the runway threshold at an elevation of 2,546 feet. The minimum descent altitude for the instrument approach procedure was 2,760 feet. Of the nine persons aboard flight 201, seven were killed and two were injured seriously. The instrument approach procedure the fiightcrew used required that a altitude of 3,500 feet be maintained until the aircraft passed the final approach fix, located 4,5 miles from the runway threshold. The aircraft impacted the ground near the location of the final approach fix, which was about 1,800 feet southeast of the Spokane VORTAC.

During the takeoff run, at V1 speed, the crew started the rotation when the left engine lost power. The captain elected to abandon the takeoff procedure but following a lack of coordination and poor experience, the crew lost control of the aircraft that veered off runway and came to rest. Both pilots were uninjured while the aircraft was written off.

Shortly after liftoff, the flight instructor reduced power on engine n°4 to check the trainee’s emergency procedures, and the aircraft began to yaw to the right. This yaw-continued to increase until, at a point approximately 6,500 feet down the runway, the right wing went down and the No. 4 engine pod made contact with the runway. In a severe sideslip to the right, the aircraft slid off the runway and thence in a northerly direction through 2,600 feet of rough terrain, breaking up and bursting into flames before it came to rest on an easterly heading. Four crew members escaped from the burning aircraft through a break in the fuselage, but of these four, only two survived. The body of one trainee was later found in the burned cockpit area. Ground impact and fire after impact almost completely destroyed the airplane.

Crashed in unknown circumstances 30 miles southwest of Moses Lake, killing all eight crew members.