2004 — Oct 19, Corporate Airlines /American Connection Crash, Kirksville, MO– 13

— 13  Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Missouri.

— 13  Baron, Robert. “Cockpit Discipline,” Aero Safety World, December 2007, p. 47.

— 13  NTSB. AAR. Collision with Trees and Crash Short of the Runway… 1-24-2006, p. viii.

— 13  Planecrashinfo.com. “2004. Accident Details. Corporate Air, near Kirksville MO, Oct 19”

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB Executive Summary: “On October 19, 2004, about 1937 central daylight time, Corporate Airlines (doing business as American Connection) flight 5966, a BAE Systems BAE-J3201, N875JX, struck trees on final approach and crashed short of runway 36 at the Kirksville Regional Airport (IRK), Kirksville, Missouri. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a scheduled passenger flight from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, in St. Louis, Missouri, to IRK. The captain, first officer, and 11 of the 13 passengers were fatally injured, and 2 passengers received serious injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postimpact fire. Night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident, and the flight operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.

 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the pilots’ failure to follow established procedures and properly conduct a nonprecision instrument approach at night in IMC, including their descent below the minimum descent altitude (MDA) before required visual cues were available (which continued unmoderated until the airplane struck the trees) and their failure to adhere to the established division of duties between the flying and nonflying (monitoring) pilot.

 

“Contributing to the accident was the pilots’ failure to make standard callouts and the current Federal Aviation Regulations that allow pilots to descend below the MDA into a region in which safe obstacle clearance is not assured based upon seeing only the airport approach lights. The pilots’ unprofessional behavior during the flight and their fatigue likely contributed to their degraded performance….” (NTSB. AAR. Collision with Trees and Crash Short of the Runway… 1-24-2006, p. viii.)

 

Planecrashinfo.com: “The turboprop crashed 4 miles south of Kirksville while on approach to Kirksville Municipal Airport. The plane clipped tree tops before crashing on its belly into a wooded area. Data show the plane descending then climbing slightly in the last four seconds before impact. The plane lacked a modern terrain warning system which would have been required equipment the next year. The pilots’ failure to follow established procedures and properly conduct a nonprecision instrument approach at night in instrument meteorological conditions, including their descent below the minimum descent altitude before required visual cues were available (which continued unmoderated until the airplane struck the trees) and their failure to adhere to the established division of duties between the flying and nonflying pilots. Contributing to the accident were the pilots’ failure to make standard callouts and the current Federal Aviation Regulations that allow pilots to descend below the MDA into a region in which safe obstacle clearance is not assured based upon seeing the airport approach lights. The pilots’ failure to establish and maintain a professional demeanor during the flight and their fatigue likely contributed to their degraded performance.” Scheduled from St. Louis to Kirkville, MO.  Two passengers survived. (Planecrashinfo.com.)

 

Sources

 

Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Missouri. Accessed 3-9-2009 at:  http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Missouri.htm

 

Baron, Robert.  “Cockpit Discipline,” Aero Safety World, December 2007, pp. 47-48.  Accessed at: http://www.flightsafety.org/asw/dec07/asw_dec07_p47-48.pdf

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Collision with Trees and Crash Short of the Runway, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966, BAE Systems BAE-J3201, N875JX, Kirksville, Missouri, October 19, 2004 ( NTSB/AAR-06/01). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted 1-24-2006, 110 pages. Accessed 9-29-2015 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0601.pdf

 

Planecrashinfo.com. “2004. Accident Details. Corporate Air, near Kirksville MO, Oct 19, 2004.”  Accessed at:  http://www.planecrashinfo.com/2004/2004-47.htm