RAYTHEON KING AIR C90, MUNSON, FLA., JUNE 25, 1999–According to the NTSB, poor judgment killed a pilot and his passenger when their aircraft came apart in flight during a midmorning journey up the west coast of Florida. The NTSB’s final report cited probable cause as “the poor in-flight weather evaluation by the pilot-in-command and his operation of the airplane at an indicated airspeed greater than the design maneuvering speed (Va) in a thunderstorm contrary to the pilot’s operating handbook, resulting in an in-flight breakup. A contributing factor in the accident was the failure of the pilot obtain in-flight weather advisories with any air traffic control facility before encountering the adverse weather.”
The Part 135 charter flight originated in Tampa shortly after 0830, with a planned destination of Brookley Field Airport (BFM) in Mobile, Ala. According to the St. Petersburg AFSS, the pilot filed an IFR flight plan by telephone, and when the briefer questioned him if he had obtained a weather briefing, the pilot said he had not. The briefer launched into a description of the significant weather, including “heavier thunderstorms up in through there.”
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