NTSB Number AAR-03/03
NTIS Number PB2003-910403
PDF Document(3 MB)

Executive Summary:  On October 25, 2002, about 1022 central daylight time, a Raytheon (Beechcraft) King Air A100, N41BE, operated by Aviation Charter, Inc., crashed while the flight crew was attempting to execute the VOR approach to runway 27 at Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, Eveleth, Minnesota. The crash site was located about 1.8 nautical miles southeast of the approach end of runway 27. The two pilots and six passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on-demand passenger charter flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crew’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover.

The safety issues discussed in this report include flight crew proficiency, Aviation Charter operational and training issues, inadequate crew resource management (CRM) training, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) surveillance, and the need for improved low-airspeed awareness. Safety recommendations concerning CRM training, FAA surveillance, and low-airspeed alert systems are addressed to the FAA.