Date & Time:
Oct 12, 2023 at 1521 LT
Type of aircraft:
Cessna 414 Chancellor
Operator:
MJ Aviation
Registration:
N880A
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Private
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Gonzales – Patterson - Houston
MSN:
414-0397
YOM:
1973
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
1
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Aircraft flight hours:
8787
Circumstances:
According to the pilot’s family, the purpose of the flight was to transport the passenger to the Sugarland Regional Airport (SGR), Houston, Texas, where a family member would pick him up. According to the passenger’s family, the purpose of the flight was for the passenger to travel to Houston for a medical appointment. A review of ADS-B data showed that the airplane departed from the Gonzales Regional Airport (REG), Gonzales, Louisiana, at 1456 and landed at 1511 at the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport (PTN), Patterson, Louisiana. According to the PTN airport manager, the airplane taxied over to the fixed-base operator and remained at idle while the passenger boarded the airplane. Video footage showed that the passenger pulled a rolling suitcase out to the airplane. Once the passenger boarded, the pilot then got out of the airplane and walked over to the left side, where he appeared to look at something on the airplane. The pilot then boarded the airplane and taxied to runway 24 for departure. The pilot announced on the airport common traffic advisory frequency that the airplane was departing runway 24, and no further radio transmissions were heard from the airplane. No ADS-B data were available for the airplane’s takeoff. Video footage captured part of the accident sequence, showing the airplane in an extreme, nose-low attitude while rolling through inverted and impacting a field near the departure end of runway 24. A witness, who was driving in her vehicle near an intersection just to the west of PTN, observed the airplane shortly after it departed from runway 24. She observed that the airplane was “tilted to the left,” turned on its side, and then entered a nosedive. She observed the airplane impact a field, explode, and both the wreckage and surrounding area caught fire. She could not tell if the airplane’s engines sounded abnormal before impact, as she was driving at the time, nor did she observe any smoke or flames emitting from the airplane before impact. She said that, from her position, it did not appear that the airplane was trying to turn back to the airport. The airplane was destroyed by a post crash fire and both occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The pilot’s failure to properly set the elevator trim before takeoff, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall during takeoff.
Final Report:
N880A.pdf1.88 MB
