Beech B-58 accident near Panacea, Florida, August 13, 1999
On August 13, 1999 at about 9:30 pm local time, a Beech B-58, registered N24DB, was substantially damaged in an accident near Panacea, Florida (Wakulla County airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed and 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's excessive speed and extended touchdown point during landing resulting in an inability to stop the airplane within the length of the wet, grass runway, and the subsequent on-ground collision with the airport fence and trees.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 13, 1999 · about 9:30 pm local time
- Place
- Panacea, Florida · Wakulla County · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed and 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Beech B-58
- Registration
- N24DB · no longer on the register · serial TH-686
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
According to an airpark resident and pilot who landed on the same, single 2,280 foot sod runway about 20 minutes before the accident, thunderstorms were rapidly approaching the airport from the west. Light rain began falling and the wind shifted from south to north. The accident airplane was observed to enter a left base for runway 18 from overhead the airport and touch down about the mid point of the runway. The passenger stated that the pilot, himself, yelled to her to hold on, that they weren't going to get stopped. The airplane skidded off the end of the runway, through a chain link fence, and into a thicket of trees. The tree collision destroyed the right wing and the nose section, displacing the instrument panel rearward. Postcrash examination of the airplane's engines, engine controls, propellers, brake system, and flight control systems revealed no precrash failures or malfunctions.
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, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 3,427 hours in all; 119 in this make and model; 30 in the last 90 days; 7 in the last 30 days; 2,429 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,731 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, July 28, 1999; 2 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,400 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental IO-520-C (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 6A2 Griffin GA at 8:20 pm
- Destination: 2JO Panacea FL
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 18, 2,880 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 170° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 9,000 ft
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 81°F (27°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 9:11 pm from TLH, 27 miles away
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.