Cessna 208B accident near Warsaw, Indiana, January 20, 2000
On January 20, 2000 at about 4:07 am local time, a Cessna 208B, registered N9457B, was substantially damaged in an accident near Warsaw, Indiana (Warsaw Municipal Airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the misjudged unsafe/hazardous condition by the pilot. Factors to the accident were the precautionary landing being performed by the pilot and the snow covered runway. Additional factors were the dark night, the snowing weather condition, the airport perimeter fence, and the railroad track.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 20, 2000 · about 4:07 am local time
- Place
- Warsaw, Indiana · Warsaw Municipal Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 208B · all 208Bs on the register
- Registration
- N9457B · no longer on the register · serial C208B0074
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
According to the pilot's written statement, he taxied the airplane to the approach-end of runway 27 and announced on the UNICOM frequency his intentions of taking-off runway 27. The pilot reported that, shortly after takeoff, he '...noticed a plow truck coming south, and started to abort and realized I couldn't and tried [to] keep flying, but couldn't, and put it [the airplane] down turning to miss any objects...'. The aircraft impacted the perimeter fence of the airport and came to rest on a railroad track embankment. The pilot did not report any anomalies with the airplane or its engine. The pilot stated that he did not hear any advisories from the plow truck on the UNICOM frequency. According to the snow-plow operator's written statement, he was removing snow from the taxiway for runway 18-36 which was approximately 100 feet north of runway 09-27 at the time of the accident. The snowplow operator stated that runway 27 had been cleared of snow earlier in the evening, but had accumulated approximately .25-inches of snow at the time of the accident.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 4,500 hours in all; 1,500 in this make and model; 60 in the last 90 days; 30 in the last 30 days; 4,300 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,557 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection
- Maximum gross weight: 8,750 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W PT6-A-114 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ASW at 4:07 am
- Destination: JVY Jeffersonville IN
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 27, 6,000 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 070° at 2 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded
- Temperature: 27°F (-3°C), dew point 27°F (-3°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:01 am from ASW
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.