Beech King Air 100 accident near Eveleth, Minnesota, October 25, 2002
On October 25, 2002 at about 6:00 am local time, a Beech King Air 100, registered N41BE, was destroyed in an accident near Eveleth, Minnesota (Eveleth-Virginia Muni airport). It was flown under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 8 people were killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The flight crew's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 25, 2002 · about 6:00 am local time
- Place
- Eveleth, Minnesota · Eveleth-Virginia Muni · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 8 people were killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech King Air 100
- Registration
- N41BE · registry record · serial B-245
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. On October 25, 2002, about 1022 central daylight time, a Raytheon (Beechcraft) King Air A100, N41BE, operated by Aviation Charter, Inc., crashed while the flight crew was attempting to execute the VOR approach to runway 27 at Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, Eveleth, Minnesota. The crash site was located about 1.8 nautical miles southeast of the approach end of runway 27. The two pilots and six passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on-demand passenger charter flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
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
Crew member
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,116 hours in all; 200 in this make and model; 101 in the last 90 days; 36 in the last 30 days; 4,602 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: October 23, 2002
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
Co-pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Flight time: 701 hours in all; 107 in this make and model; 69 in the last 90 days; 36 in the last 30 days; 160 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: August 4, 2002
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-28 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Aviation Charter Inc.
The flight
- Departed from: STP St Paul MN
- Destination: EVM Eveleth MN
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 27
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 3 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 700 ft; scat at 400 ft
- Temperature: 34°F (1°C), dew point 32°F (0°C)
- Altimeter: 30.05 inHg
- Observation at 3:14 pm from EVM, 2 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 6 |
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.