British Aerospace 3101 accident near Beckley, West Virginia, January 31, 1991
On January 31, 1991 at about 4:55 am local time, a British Aerospace 3101, registered N167PC, was destroyed in an accident near Beckley, West Virginia (Raleigh County Memorial airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 13 people were seriously injured and 3 people had minor injuries; 3 others were unhurt. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
FLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN ICE ACCUMULATION ON THE AIRCRAFT AND SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL (TAIL PLANE STALL) AS THE FLAPS WERE FULLY EXTENDED. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE USE OF THE PREFLIGHT BRIEFING SERVICE, INADEQUATE TRAINING PROVIDED TO THE PILOTS BY COMPANY/MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL, INADEQUATE SURVEILLANCE BY THE FAA, AND ICING CONDITIONS.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 31, 1991 · about 4:55 am local time
- Place
- Beckley, West Virginia · Raleigh County Memorial · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 13 people were seriously injured and 3 people had minor injuries; 3 others were unhurt.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- British Aerospace 3101
- Registration
- N167PC · registry record · serial 710
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
ACFT WAS DISPATCHED WITH INOP AIRFRAME DEICE SYS, THO AN OPNL DEICE SYS WAS RQRD FOR FLT IN KNOWN ICG CONDS. DRG DSCNT TO LND, ACFT ENCTRD LGT ICG CONDS. CAPT BELIEVED ACFT COULD 'HANDLE IT' & CONTD DSCNT. AS HE BGN ILS FINAL APCH, HE NOTED SGFNT INCR OF ICE ACCUMULATION & USED HIGHER THAN NML APCH SPD. AS FULL (50 DEG) FLAPS WERE SET, ACFT BGN BUFFET & PITCHED NOSE DWN. CAPT CORRECTED WITH FULL BACK PRES ON CTL COLUMN, BUT ACFT LNDD HARD, GEAR COLLAPSED & ACFT SLID ABT 3600' TO A STOP. NO PREIMPACT MECH ANOMALY WAS FND, EXCEPT FOR INOP DEICE SYS. INV REVEALED PLTS HAD RCVD PRINTOUT OF WX FM CO COMPUTER SYS WITH SFC OBS & TRML FCST, BUT NO AREA FCST (FA). PLTS & GND PSNL WERE NOT AWARE THAT FA WAS AVAIL AT CO WX TRML. FA FCSTD LGT & OCNL MOD RIME & MXD ICG IN CLDS & PRECIP ABV FRZG LVL. WX DTRTD, BUT PLTS DID NOT REQ INFLT WX INFO OR PIREPS. FLT MNL NOTED TAILPLANE ICE MAY CAUSE NOSE DWN TRIM CHG WITH FLAP EXTN. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF TAIL PLANE STALL, LACK OF CO TRNG IN COLD WX OPNS, DEFICIENCIES IN USE OF DEICING SYS, & LACK OF FAA SURVEILLANCE.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,000 hours in all; 3,400 in this make and model; 231 in the last 90 days; 76 in the last 30 days; 3,500 as pilot in command; 1,000 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 8,841 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 30, 1991; 8 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 15,200 lb
- Seats: 21
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Garrett TPE-331 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Ccair INC.
The flight
- Departed from: CLT Charlotte NC
- Destination: BKW
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 19, 6,750 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 330° at 13 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 200 ft
- Temperature: 36°F (2°C), dew point 37°F (3°C)
- Altimeter: 29.89 inHg
- Observation at 4:50 am from BKW, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | 1 | ||
| Passengers | 12 | 3 | 2 |
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.
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 documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text 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 DCA91MA019.