Beech B-99 accident near Rapid City, South Dakota, December 29, 2006
On December 29, 2006 at about 9:00 am local time, a Beech B-99, registered N99TH, was substantially damaged in an accident near Rapid City, South Dakota (Rapid City Regional airport). It was flown under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to follow the published instrument approach procedure which contributed to his failure to maintain altitude and clearance from terrain during the instrument approach. A factor was the night light condition.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 29, 2006 · about 9:00 am local time
- Place
- Rapid City, South Dakota · Rapid City Regional · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech B-99 · all B-99s on the register
- Registration
- N99TH · no longer on the register · serial U-155
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was on an instrument flight rules flight in night instrument meteorological conditions when the accident occurred. The airplane had been cleared for an ILS approach and the pilot elected to use a non-published procedure to intercept the final approach. After becoming established on the final approach, the airplane impacted the ground about 7 miles from the destination airport at an elevation approximately the same as the airport elevation. Flight inspections of the instrument approach performed prior to and subsequent to the accident revealed satisfactory performance of both the localizer and glideslope functions. The number one altimeter setting did not match the altimeter setting that was current at the time of the accident. Post accident examination of the altimeters revealed that the number one altimeter read 360 feet high. No determination was made as to whether the discrepency existed prior to impact. However, the pilot did not report any pre-flight discrepencies with regard to the airplane's altimeters. No other anomalies were found or reported with regard to the airplane's structure or systems.
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: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,652 hours in all; 3,069 in this make and model; 222 in the last 90 days; 74 in the last 30 days; 3,023 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2
- Seat: left
- Injury: minor injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 39,795 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, November 1, 2006
- Maximum gross weight: 10,900 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Pratt & Whitney PT6A-28 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: PIR Pierre SD at 8:00 am
- Destination: RAP Rapid City SD
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 32, 8,701 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: from 340° at 18 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility: 2.5 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 1,300 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 27°F (-3°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 30.35 inHg
- Observation at 9:11 am from RAP, 7 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Other NTSB records under N99TH the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CHI07LA050.