Hawker Beechcraft King Air B100, Benavides, Texas, Oct. 26, 2009–The NTSB has shared the blame for the accident between the pilot’s failure to avoid severe weather and the air traffic controller’s failure to provide adverse-weather avoidance assistance as required by the FAA. Before departure from Garner Field Airport in Uvalde, Texas, on a Part 91 IFR flight, the pilot received three weather briefings from an automated flight service station, and expressed his concern about the conditions.
According to investigators, he altered his flight plan in an attempt to avoid the storms. Soon after takeoff, he contacted Houston ATC and noted that he saw a squall line on the aircraft’s radar, which the controller acknowledged. The controller then issued a heading, and soon amended it when the pilot requested a route toward Corpus Christi. Less than an hour after takeoff, the aircraft left its assigned altitude and the pilot reported encountering “pretty good turbulence.” The twin turboprop vanished from radar two minutes later.
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