Beech BE58P accident near Jeanerette, Louisiana, July 18, 2006
On July 18, 2006 at about 9:24 pm local time, a Beech BE58P, registered N158LW, was destroyed in an accident near Jeanerette, Louisiana (Le Maire Memorial Airport). It was a business flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 2 people were killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's continued flight into adverse weather condition and his delayed attempt to abort the landing. A contributing factor was the prevailing thunderstorm.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 18, 2006 · about 9:24 pm local time
- Place
- Jeanerette, Louisiana · Le Maire Memorial Airport
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 2 people were killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech BE58P
- Registration
- N158LW · no longer on the register · serial TJ-381
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The18,300-hours commercial pilot filed an IFR flight plan for the 332-nautical mile flight. The flight was uneventful. When about 15-nautical miles from the destination airport, air traffic control (ATC) cleared the flight for a visual approach and advised the pilot of light to moderate and possible heavy precipitation south of the destination airport. The pilot then canceled his IFR flight plan, acknowledged that he had the weather in site, and changed to the local airport advisory frequency. The destination airport was a non-towered airport without published instrument approaches. No other communications were received from the airplane. Witnesses at the airport observed the airplane touch down long abeam the midfield taxiway on runway 04. Shortly after touchdown on the 3,000-foot long, by 75-foot wide asphalt runway, the increased noise in engine power consistent with an aborted landing was heard. The airplane was observed airborne prior to the end of the runway. The airplane failed to climb and the main landing gear collided with the 5 foot tall airport perimeter fence. The airplane subsequently collided with a concrete block building, a utility pole, several trees, the roof of a house, several strands of power lines, until it collided with a mobile home. The airplane came to rest in the inverted position about 811 feet beyond the departure end of runway 04. The landing gear was found extended and with the flaps in the retracted position. A post-impact fire destroyed the airplane. Witnesses at the airport further reported that a thunderstorm was in the immediate vicinity of the airport at the time of the accident, with heavy rain restricting the flight visibility to less than one mile. Flight control continuity was established to all flight controls. No mechanical anomalies were found with the airframe or the engines.
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 multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 18,300 hours in all; 18,300 in this make and model; 250 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: None
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 5,058 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, February 1, 2006
- Maximum gross weight: 6,200 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Teledyne Continental TSIO-520-WB (piston); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Teledyne Continental TSIO-520-LcWB (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: CRP Corpus Christi TX at 7:29 pm
- Destination: 2R1 Jeanerette LA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 22, 3,000 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 0 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds
- Temperature: 91°F (33°C), dew point 73°F (23°C)
- Altimeter: 29.96 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 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.