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Baron Aviation Services Cessna 208B accident

15 Dec 1994 · Memphis, TN, United States

Cessna 208B and Douglas DC-3A · Accident: collision between aircraft (not in flight) while taxiing

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Event

NTSB case
MIA95LA040
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Charter & commuter
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Aircraft 1 · Cessna 208B

Aircraft type
Cessna 208
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N927FE
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Frederick W. Smith International Airport (MEM)To 81J · Destin, FL
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Taxi · to runway
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Collision between aircraft (not in flight)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Aircraft 2 · Douglas DC-3A

Aircraft type
Douglas DC-3
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N24320
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Frederick W. Smith International Airport (MEM)To Nashville International Airport (BNA), Nashville, TN
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Standing · engine(s) operating
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Collision between aircraft (not in flight)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Exterior light(s) › Inoperative
  • Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, inadequate
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Aircraft preflight, inadequate

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT OF CESSNA 208, N927FE, STATED THAT AS HE TAXIED TO RUNWAY 18L HE DID NOT SEE ANY AIRCRAFT EXCEPT AN AIRCRAFT WHICH WAS AT THE HOLD SHORT LINE. HE THEN NOTICED THE SILHOUETTE OF DOUGLAS DC3, N24320, AHEAD OF HIM BUT WAS UNABLE TO STOP PRIOR TO COLLIDING WITH THE AIRCRAFT. HE STATED THE TAIL NAVIGATION LIGHTS AND BEACON LIGHTS ON THE DC3 WERE NOT OPERATING. HE ALSO STATED THE TAXIWAY WAS WET AND THERE WAS A GLARE FROM LIGHTS ON A NEARBY RAMP. POSTCRASH EXAMINATION OF DC3 BY FAA INSPECTORS INDICATED THE TAIL NAVIGATION AND BEACON LIGHTS WERE INOPERATIVE.

Probable cause

THE INABILITY OF THE PILOT OF CESSNA 208, N927FE TO SEE DOUGLAS DC3, N24320, AS HE TAXIED TO TAKEOFF DUE TO INOPERATIVE TAIL NAVIGATION LIGHTS AND BEACON LIGHTS ON THE DC3 AND DUE TO GLARE ON THE WET TAXIWAY.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA95LA040
Event ID
20001206X02771
Case number
MIA95LA040
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 0ee5a0a8098946b86898105c0b0f9e02a9c149a7140c843b608293b95c4572f9; retrieved 2026-09-18T18:05:15.080Z.