Beech 1900D incident near Hopkensville, Kentucky, November 17, 1996
On November 17, 1996 at about 11:00 pm local time, a Beech 1900D, registered N841SK, suffered minor damage in an incident near Hopkensville, Kentucky. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 16 people were on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the materials used in the new windshield, to meet new EPA requirements, were inadequate for the design.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 17, 1996 · about 11:00 pm local time
- Place
- Hopkensville, Kentucky · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 16 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech 1900D · all 1900Ds on the register
- Registration
- N841SK · no longer on the register · serial UE-84
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The crew had just selected the windshield heat on, when smoke began to fill the airplane. After the windshield heat was turned off the smoke subsided. The flightcrew declared an emergency, and made an emergency evacuation of the airplane after landing. Postflight examination of the airplane revealed that electrical arcing was occurring on the copilots windshield at the low power heating element's terminal block. Additional testing revealed that the chemicals used to bond the terminal block during the windshield's manufacture had recently been changed due to EPA regulations, and were incompatible with the braided wire in the windshield.
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: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,120 hours in all; 2,295 in this make and model; 236 in the last 90 days; 89 in the last 30 days; 756 as pilot in command; 64 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,608 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, October 28, 1996; 122 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 16,590 lb
- Seats: 21
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PT6A-67D (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Skyway Airlines
The flight
- Departed from: MKE Milwaukee WI at 9:30 pm
- Destination: IND Indianapolis IN
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 1,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 39°F (4°C), dew point 36°F (2°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 14 |
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.