FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

Aerovation Beech E-18S accident

9 Dec 1987 · Natchez, MS, United States

Beech E-18S and De Mint, Thomas Beech C-45H · Accident: midair collision en route

Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
MIA88LA057
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 · Beech E-18S

Aircraft type
Beechcraft E-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
N24JE
Operator
Aerovation
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), New Orleans, LATo Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field (LIT), Little Rock, AR
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
En route · cruise
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
Midair collision
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 · Beech C-45H

Aircraft type
Beechcraft C-45
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
N492DM
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), New Orleans, LATo LITL · Little Rock, AR
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 91: General Aviation
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
En route · cruise
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
Midair collision
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

  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate

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

NTSB narrative

THE TWO ACFT WERE REGISTERED TO THE SAME PERSON & THE PILOTS WERE FRIENDS OF EACH OTHER. THE ACFT DEPARTED FROM THE SAME AIRPORT AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME & WERE BOUND FOR THE SAME DESTINATION ON AN IFR FLT PLAN, N24JE AT 8000 FT, N492DM AT 4000 FT. LATER BOTH CANCELLED IFR & PROCEEDED VISUALLY. THE PLTS WERE IN TWO WAY RADIO CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER & AGREED TO EACH ADJUST THEIR ALT TO 6500 FT. THEY MAINTAINED VISUAL SEPARATION FROM EACH OTHER ABOUT 1 MI ABREAST. THEY STATED THAT THEY LOST VISUAL CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER SHORTLY THEREAFTER. THE PLT OF N24JE STATED THAT HE NEXT SAW THE OTHER ACFT AHEAD & TO HIS RIGHT & HE BANKED HARD TO THE LEFT IN ORDER TO AVOID A COLLISION, BUT HE WAS UNABLE TO DO SO. THE RIGHT LEADING EDGE OF THE WING OF N24JE STRUCK THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE LEFT WING OF N492DM. BOTH ACFT WERE ABLE TO LAND SAFELY & DENIED THEY WERE FLYING OR ATTEMPTING TO FLY FORMATION WITH EACH OTHER.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA88LA057
Event ID
20001213X32738
Case number
MIA88LA057
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: 59199a6d33275f2c93f3fa71e52f96b6524392da1f5a2bef3aa6c81acee5f681; retrieved 2026-09-18T19:34:33.455Z.