ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 37651
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| Date: | Wednesday 14 February 1990 |
| Time: | 07:53 |
| Type: |  Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise |
| Owner/operator: | Williams Aviation Co |
| Registration: | N300CW |
| MSN: | 795SA |
| Year of manufacture: | 1980 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2600 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Putnam, Callahan County, Texas -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Midland, Texas (MDD/KMDD) |
| Love Field, Dallas, Texas (DAL/KDAL) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Whilst en route from Midland, Texas to Love Field, Dallas and cruising at 15,000 feet, the aircraft was seen on radar to slow from 270 knots (ground speed) to 150 knots over a period of about four minutes. Its ground speed then decayed further, to 100 knots., in 12 seconds. Meanwhile, the pilot had asked for permission to descend to 13,000 feet.
ATC cleared the flight to descend to 14,000 feet but this was not acknowledged by the pilot and there was no further contact with the flight. The aircraft was seen to enter a rapid descent which apparently continued until impact with the ground. The aircraft came down north of Interstate 20, just north of Putnam, Callahan County, Texas.
The accident happened in daylight (08:00 hours Local Time) but in IMC. The local forecast predicted light to moderate icing above 10,000 feet, and another aircraft, flying at 13,000 feet, later reported encountering 'moderate' icing in the area where the accident happened.
The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's improper planning/decision making, which resulted in an excessive accumulation of ice on the aircraft, and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed and control. Contributing factors included the pilot's inadequate weather evaluation due to the lack of available information from the automated flight service station (AFSS), the AFSS computers were 'down' at the time, his failure to obtain additional information from other weather stations, either before take-off or while en route, his lack of experience on the aircraft type and the icing conditions at his cruising level.
All five persons on board (pilot and four passengers) were killed. The registration N300CW was cancelled by the FAA on March 28 1991.
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: FTW90FA072 at https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X22562
2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=300CW
3. http://planecrashmap.com/plane/tx/N300CW/
4. http://rzjets.net/aircraft/?page=13&typeid=247
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 04-Mar-2016 21:53 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
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