Incident Cessna 441 Conquest II N779CC, Friday 8 January 2016
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Date:Friday 8 January 2016
Time:09:00
Type:Silhouette image of generic C441 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Cessna 441 Conquest II
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N779CC
MSN: 441-0155
Year of manufacture:1980
Total airframe hrs:6226 hours
Engine model:Honeywell TPE 331-10N
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Location:Fargo, ND -   United States of America
Phase: Approach
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Detroit Lakes, MN (DTL)
Destination airport:Fargo, ND (FAR)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The airline transport pilot reported that the accident flight was the airplane’s first flight after a phase maintenance check, and that he was repositioning the airplane to an airport about 40 nautical miles away. While en route, the airplane experienced a series of avionics and fuel-related anomalies. The pilot eventually declared an emergency and was cleared to land at the destination airport. The first approach for landing in instrument meteorological conditions resulted in a missed approach. The pilot reported that, about this time, the airframe was accumulating ice and he cycled the deice boots.
During the second approach, the airplane broke out of the clouds, and the pilot proceeded to land. The pilot reported that, before he initiated the landing flare, he reduced engine power to idle, fully extended the flaps, and flared the airplane.  He stated the airplane was shaking and shuddering, but no stall warning horn sounded, and then the “bottom fell out.”  The airplane landed hard, and the left engine’s propeller blades struck the runway. The airplane incurred wing spar and propeller damage.
A postflight examination of the airplane revealed between ½ to 1 inch of rime ice on the leading edge surfaces of both wings, the horizontal stabilizer, and the vertical stabilizer. The pilot’s operating handbook for the airplane stated that the deicing boots should be cycled as necessary when ice accumulation reached between ¼ and ½ inch. The amount of ice on the wing and empennage surfaces after the accident was consistent with the pilot not cycling the deice boots as prescribed, which resulted in an excessive ice accumulation on approach and a subsequent aerodynamic stall during the landing flare.

Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to cycle the surface deice boots during the instrument approach in icing conditions, which led to ice accumulation on the leading edges of the wings and empennage, and resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent hard landing.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: CEN16LA098
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
19-Aug-2017 07:25 ASN Update Bot Added
17-Nov-2017 23:04 wf Updated [Aircraft type, Cn]

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