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Viking Express Beech G-18S accident

4 Dec 1991 · West Chicago, IL, United States

Beech G-18S · Accident: loss of control in flight during initial climb

From an unrecorded airport to Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)

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Event

NTSB case
CHI92FA037
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

Beech G-18S

Aircraft type
Beechcraft G-18
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
N38RM
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), Covington, KY
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
Initial climb
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
Loss of control 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
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Directional control, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper
  • Pilot in command › Remedial action, improper

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

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT STATED SHE FELT THE TWIN ENGINED TAILWHEEL CARGO AIRPLANE YAW TO THE RIGHT DURING TAKEOFF. THE PILOT STATED SHE APPLIED LEFT RUDDER AND SET DIFFERENTIAL POWER TO CORRECT FOR THE PERCEIVED RIGHT HAND CROSSWIND. AS THE AIRPLANE LIFTED OFF, IT MADE A SHARP RIGHT TURN AND PERFORMED LEFT AND RIGHT BANKS LEVELING OFF PRIOR TO COLLIDING WITH THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE SLID THROUGH SECURITY FENCES AND A FUEL SUPPLY DEPOT BEFORE STOPPING. THE NEWSPAPER BUNDLE CARGO MOVED FROM THE TWO FORWARD BAYS TO THE AFT END OF THE CARGO COMPARTMENT. THE NEWSPAPERS WERE COVERED WITH PLASTIC WRAPPER. THE CARGO COMPARTMENT FLOOR WAS SLIPPERY WHEN WALKED UPON AND HAD TRACES OF SNOW ON IT. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT THE CARGO WAS COVERED BY A CARGO NET SECURED AT THE FORWARD END BUT NOT AT THE AFT END. TWO CARGO STRAPS WERE CRISSCROSSED OVER THE NET AND SECURED AT THE AFT END OF THE CARGO LOAD. THE LEFT THROTTLE WAS FOUND IN THE FULL FORWARD POSITION. THE RIGHT THROTTLE WAS FOUND ONE INCH AFT OF THE FULL FORWARD POSITION.

Probable cause

A RESULT OF THE PILOT IN COMMAND'S NOT MAINTAINING DIRECTIONAL CONTROL, AN IMPROPER INFLIGHT DECISION, AND IMPROPER REMEDIAL ACTION ONCE THE LOSS OF DIRECTIONAL CONTROL WAS RECOGNIZED BY THE PILOT. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT ARE INADEQUATE CARGO RESTRAINTS, LOOSE CARGO, AND IMPROPER SECURITY OF THE CARGO NOT OBSERVED BY THE PILOT. ADDITIONAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT ARE THE INADEQUATE STANDARDS FOR AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY EMPLOYING AND OPERATING THE AIRPLANE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record CHI92FA037
Event ID
20001212X18549
Case number
CHI92FA037
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: 956051b1d3737526615aa0c0509c101901c4c70d2ef5d30d16389d54725a147d; retrieved 2026-09-18T18:49:57.904Z.