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Grand Strand Aviation Beech 58 accident

25 Nov 1992 · West Columbia, SC, United States

Beech 58 · Accident: in flight collision with terrain/water on approach

From Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)

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Event

NTSB case
ATL93FA028
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
1 · 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
Instrument Meteorological Cond

Beech 58

Aircraft type
Beechcraft 58
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
N9321Q
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), Charlotte, NCTo Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), Columbia, SC
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
Approach
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
In flight collision with terrain/water
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Descent, improper
  • Pilot in command › Missed approach, not performed
  • Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, continued

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

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT HAD STATED TO FRIENDS & OTHER COMPANY PILOTS THAT THE GLIDE SLOPE IN THE AIRPLANE WAS INOPERATIVE. THIS AIRPLANE WAS OPERATED REMOTELY FROM THE OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE OFFICES OF THE COMPANY. THE PILOT HAD REPORTED TO THE COMPANY, BY TELEPHONE, THAT THERE WAS A DISCREPANCY WITH THE GLIDE SLOPE. HE HAD NOT COMPLETED THE DISCREPANCY FORM CONTAINED IN THE COMPANY MANUAL. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO HAVE THE GLIDE SLOPE REPAIRED. THE REMOTE MAINTENANCE FACILITY WAS OVERLOADED WITH WORK SO, THE PILOT ASKED HIS COMPANY TO INTERCEDE WITH THE AVIONICS SHOP CHIEF TO REPAIR N9321Q. SUBSEQUENTLY, NO REPAIRS WERE MADE TO THE AIRPLANE & THE PILOT COMMENCED HIS NORMAL FLIGHT SCHEDULE. UPON RETURN TO THE ORIGINATION AIRPORT, AN ILS APPROACH WAS ATTEMPTED. ABOUT ONE MILE FROM THE RUNWAY THE ATC CONTROLLER OBTAINED CONFIRMATION FROM THE PILOT THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS AT 1,300 FEET. THE PILOT WAS ASKED IF A MISSED APPROACH WOULD BE EXECUTED, TO WHICH HE RESPONDED NO. THE ACCIDENT SITE WAS ABOUT 1 MILE BEYOND THE RUNWAY.

Probable cause

THE PILOT'S CONTINUED OPERATION WITH KNOWN DEFICIENT EQUIPMENT, HIS IMPROPER DESCENT, AND HIS FAILURE TO PERFORM A MISSED APPROACH. A FACTOR WAS THE OPERATOR'S INADEQUATE SURVEILLANCE OF THE PILOT'S PROCEDURES AND THE MAINTENANCE OF THE AIRPLANE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ATL93FA028
Event ID
20001211X15983
Case number
ATL93FA028
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: 14004b48172f2323fdae7dc986f17aa91a3a3853afaee298cbbed2ff403869dc; retrieved 2026-09-18T13:55:11.817Z.