Beech 65-80 accident near Brownsville, Texas, January 15, 1987
On January 15, 1987 at about 4:05 pm local time, a Beech 65-80, registered N1590S, was substantially damaged in an accident near Brownsville, Texas (Brownsville airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 4 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 NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 15, 1987 · about 4:05 pm local time
- Place
- Brownsville, Texas · Brownsville
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech 65-80 · all 65-80s on the register
- Registration
- N1590S · no longer on the register · serial LD-27
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
COMMERCIAL PILOT DEPARTED BROWNSVILLE, TX (BRO) ON SPECIAL VFR FLIGHT PLAN. DURING INITIAL CLIMB, AT APPROXIMATELY 300 FT AGL BOTH ENGINES QUIT DUE TO FUEL STARVATION. FORCED LANDING WAS MADE TO UNIMPROVED FIELD. AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. PILOT AND THREE PASSENGER WERE UNINJURED. AIRCRAFT HAD APPROXIMATELY 39 GALLONS OF FUEL IN TWO AUXILIARY FUEL TANKS. PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO REACH FUEL STOP IN MEXICO IN COMPLIANCE WITH COMPANY POLICY. PILOT STATED THAT HE EXPERIECED A SINGLE ENGINE LANDING IN AN UNIMPROVED FIELD DUE TO FUEL STARVATION WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REACH FUEL STOP IN MEXICO ON ONE OTHER OCCASION. IN BOTH INSTANCES REVENUE PASSENGERS WERE ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT.
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: 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: 8,803 hours in all; 234 in this make and model; 140 in the last 90 days; 8,696 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,624 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, August 21, 1986; 57 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 8,000 lb
- Seats: 9
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming IGSO-540-A1D (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Destination: MAM Matamoros
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 050° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 3 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 2,900 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 64°F (18°C), dew point 63°F (17°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 3:48 pm from BRO, 4 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
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.