Beech 95-B55 accident near Hutchinson, Kansas, February 21, 1985
On February 21, 1985 at about 1:00 am local time, a Beech 95-B55, registered N617CA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Hutchinson, Kansas (Hutchinson Muni airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was seriously injured. 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
- February 21, 1985 · about 1:00 am local time
- Place
- Hutchinson, Kansas · Hutchinson Muni · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech 95-B55 · all 95-B55s on the register
- Registration
- N617CA · no longer on the register · serial TC-1078
- 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
DURING ARRIVAL, THE PLT BEGAN AN ILS APCH TO RWY 13 AT THE HUTCHINSON MUNI ARPT. HE REPORTED THAT HE HAD TURNED OFF THE 16 MI ARC, HAD INTERCEPTED THE LOCALIZER & HAD BEGUN HIS DESCENT TO THE MIN PUBLISHED ALT TO CROSS OVER THE OUTERMARKER (FINAL APCH FIX). JUST PRIOR TO REACHING THE OUTER MARKER, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH THE 2 TOP STATIC WIRES OF A POWER LINE, THEN CRASHED TO THE GROUND. DURING AN EXAM OF THE ACFT, THE ALTIMETER WAS FOUND INDICATING 8400 FT. IT WAS TAKEN TO A REPAIR STATION FOR A TEARDOWN, BUT WAS READING -3500 FT BY THEN. A DISASSEMBLY & EXAM OF THE ALTIMETER WAS MADE, BUT ITS PREIMPACT CONDITION & ITS READ-OUT AT IMPACT COULD NOT BE DETERMINED.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,255 hours in all; 30 in this make and model; 280 in the last 90 days; 1,175 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,668 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, December 26, 1984; 3,668 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,000 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental IO-470 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LIB Liberal KS
- Destination: HUT
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 13, 7,001 ft by 200 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 180° at 20 knots
- Visibility: 2 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded at 200 ft
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:31 am from HUT, 7 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 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.