1985 — Nov 23, Twin-engine Beechcraft plane crash, Boca Raton, FL (all aboard killed)– 6

–6  NTSB. Aviation Accident Final Report. Accident Number: MIA86MA032.

–6  Sun Sentinel, FL. “Boca Crash Kills 6, Plane Plunges into Yards…” 11-24-1985.

–5  UPI. “Airplane crash kills five but misses houses.” Key West Citizen. 11-24-1985, p. 1.

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB: “Analysis: ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE PLT TOOK OFF ON RWY 4, THEN TURNED LEFT TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST & FLEW PARALLEL WITH THE RWY AT A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 1/4 TO 1/2 MI. HE LEVELED THE ACFT AT APRX 200′ AGL, JUST BELOW THE CLOUDS, UNTIL APRX ABEAM OF MIDFIELD, THEN HE TURNED SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT. ONE WITNESS REPORTED THAT AT ABOUT THAT TIME, THE ACFT WAS ‘BUFFETING OR PORPOISING.’ ANOTHER WITNESS, WHO WAS DRIVING SOUTHBOUND ON I-95, ABOUT 3/4 MI EAST OF THE CRASH SITE, STATED HE SAW THE ACFT ON A WESTBOUND HDG, CLEAR OF CLOUDS, AT AN ALT OF 200 TO 300 FT AGL IN APRX A LEVEL ATTITUDE, WHEN IT SUDDENLY ‘NOSED DOWN’ TO THE GROUND. THE ACFT IMPACTED IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA WHILE IN A STEEP DSCNT. NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL PROBLEM WAS FND. THE ACFT WAS ESTIMATED TO BE APRX 600 LBS OVER ITS MAX GROSS WT LIMIT OF 5400 LBS WITH THE CG .27 TO .97 INCH BEHIND THE AFT LIMIT.

 

“Findings

 

  1. (F) PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION – IMPROPER – PILOT IN COMMAND
  2. (C) AIRCRAFT WEIGHT AND BALANCE – EXCEEDED – PILOT IN COMMAND
  3. (F) WEATHER CONDITION – LOW CEILING
  4. (F) WEATHER CONDITION – FOG
  5. (F) WEATHER CONDITION – CLOUDS
  6. MANEUVER – INITIATED – PILOT IN COMMAND
  7. (C) AIRSPEED – NOT MAINTAINED – PILOT IN COMMAND
  8. (C) STALL – INADVERTENT – PILOT IN COMMAND

 

 

Nov 24, Sun Sentinel: “Boca Raton — A twin-engine Beechcraft plane plummeted to the ground between two homes in a just-awakening neighborhood Saturday morning [Nov 23], killing all six men on board but sparing residents of the houses it narrowly missed. The plane, which crashed at 8 a.m. shortly after takeoff from Boca Raton Airport, dived into the back yards of homes in the exclusive Boca Raton Bath & Tennis community….

 

“Several residents said they heard the engines on the Beechcraft Baron 58 sputter and then a second later heard what one described as an “awful thud“ as the plane hit the ground and crumpled into a neat mound. The plane, carrying a full fuel tank, created a small crater when it hit but did not explode.

 

“Jack Barker, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Atlanta said witnesses, who heard sputtering noises coming from the plane, saw it turn back toward the airport seconds before the crash. He said the plane took off from the airport, about four miles from the crash site, in a bit of a fog. “Visibility wasn’t that good,“ he said. Officials said there were no emergency broadcasts or maydays from the plane.

 

“The six people on board, some believed to be members of the Boca Raton Civil Air Patrol, were killed instantly, according to neighbors who ran through a cloud of vapors and to the plane seconds after the crash. Killed were the pilot, Wendell Carr, 54, of Delray Beach, and passengers David Gramith, 52, of Plantation; Howard Retz, 48, of Boca Raton; and Richard Clark, 53, John P. Ludlow, 41, and Morris Dicker, 64, all of Delray Beach. Three of the men, Carr, Clark and Retz, were members of the Boca Raton Civilian Air Patrol and flew together often….

 

“One of the occupants was ejected a few feet from the plane. The other five were found dead inside the passenger compartment. Police said they had difficulty identifying the bodies….

 

“The plane appeared to have come straight down into the narrow back yards of two homes, just missing roofs and causing only minor damage to a screened-in patio. The only identifiable piece of plane intact was the tail sticking upright amid twisted and shorn debris, scattered on manicured lawns in the walled community,…

“…Bruce Herman, a Civil Air Patrol commander who was supposed to join Carr on the ill-fated trip to Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas. Herman said men on board the plane were going to the islands for a snorkeling trip and were planning to return for the Civil Air Patrol’s “Sundown Patrol“ along the coast….” (Sun Sentinel, FL. “Boca Crash Kills 6, Plane Plunges into Yards…” 11-24-1985.)

 

Nov 24, UPI: “Boca Raton, Fla. (UPI). A twin-engine airplane, its motor sputtering, crashed between two homes near a tennis club in a exclusive subdivision of Boca Raton today, killing all five people aboard but sparing the occupants of the houses….” (UPI. “Airplane crash kills five but misses houses.” Key West Citizen. 11-24-1985, p. 1.)

 

Planecrashmap.com identifies the tail number as N3862Y and the plane as a Beech 58.

 

Sources

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Aviation Accident Final Report. Accident Number: MIA86MA032. Accessed 7-5-2018 at: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20001214X38286&AKey=1&RType=Final&IType=MA

 

Planecrashmap.com. N3862Y accident description. Accessed 7-5-2018 at: https://planecrashmap.com/plane/fl/N3862Y/

 

Sun Sentinel (Rich Pollack), FL. “Boca Crash Kills 6, Plane Plunges into Yards, Sparing Residents.” 11-24-1985. Accessed 7-5-2018 at: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-11-24/news/8502220723_1_plane-boca-raton-airport-crash

 

United Press International. “Airplane crash kills five but misses houses.” Key West Citizen. 11-24-1985, p. 1. Accessed 7-5-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/key-west-citizen-nov-24-1985-p-1/