Beech
D45 (T-34B) Mentor
Beech
Serial Number:
BG-358
Bureau Number 144051
Tail
Number: N8NV
Owner:
US Navy on loan to North Island Navy Flying Club (NINFC)
Status:
Crashed May 18, 2001, killing pilot and passenger.
"NTSB Factual Report, Aviation" report on the crash, click
here. It is a PDF file.
"NTSB Probably Cause" report, another PDF document, click
here.
N8NV
came to NINFC in the late 90s and became the focal point of much
fixing up. Thanks to the Navy paint shop at NAS North Island it had a
new paint job and was scheduled for other improvements. Then on May
18, 2001, a club member flew up a canyon from which he could not fly
out. He obviously tried very hard -- while trying to out-climb the 15
degree grade where he was trying to escape the canyon, he apparently
ran out of airspeed to such a degree that it "pancaked" into the side
of the slope...and did not budge. The engine was ripped cleanly from
its mounts (obviously turning for all that it was worth), and the
fuselage burned (they were only 10-15 minutes after takeoff). All that
was left was a pile of rubble, the outboard wing panels, and a trail
of molten aluminum down-grade from the site.
