- ACCIDENT DETAILS
Date: October 19, 2004
Time: 0745
Location: Near Kirksville, Missouri
Operator: Corporate Airlines (American Connection)
Flight #: 5966
Route: St. Louis, MO - Kirkville, MO
AC Type: Bae Jetstream 3201
Registration: N875JX
cn / ln: 875
Aboard: 15   (passengers:13  crew:2)
Fatalities: 13   (passengers:11  crew:2)
Ground: 0
Summary: The turboprop crashed 4 miles south of Kirksville while on approach to Kirksville Municipal Airport. The plane clipped tree tops before crashing on its belly into a wooded area. Data show the plane descending then climbing slightly in the last four seconds before impact. The plane lacked a modern terrain warning system which would have been required equipment the next year. The pilots' failure to follow established procedures and properly conduct a nonprecision instrument approach at night in instrument meteorological conditions, including their descent below the minimum descent altitude before required visual cues were available (which continued unmoderated until the airplane struck the trees) and their failure to adhere to the established division of duties between the flying and nonflying pilots. Contributing to the accident were the pilots' failure to make standard callouts and the current Federal Aviation Regulations that allow pilots to descend below the MDA into a region in which safe obstacle clearance is not assured based upon seeing the airport approach lights. The pilots' failure to establish and maintain a professional demeanor during the flight and their fatigue likely contributed to their degraded performance.
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