Gulfstream 500B accident near Pierceville, Kansas, January 20, 1988
On January 20, 1988 at about 1:46 am local time, a Gulfstream 500B, registered N611CA, was destroyed in an accident near Pierceville, Kansas (Garden City airport). It was a positioning flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. 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 20, 1988 · about 1:46 am local time
- Place
- Pierceville, Kansas · Garden City · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Gulfstream 500B
- Registration
- N611CA · registry record · serial 922 7
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Positioning flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE ACFT DPTD GARDEN CITY UNDER EXTREMELY POOR WX COND'S. MORE THAN HALF WAY TO DODGE CITY, THE PIC RPTD ENG PBLMS TO KANSAS CITY (ARTCC). VECTORS WERE PROVIDED TO THE DODGE CITY ARPT, BUT THE PIC DID NOT MAINTAIN ASSIGNED HDGS. THE ACFT HEADED BACK TOWARDS GARDEN CITY TO ATTEMPT AN INST APPRCH. RADAR VECTORS WERE PROVIDED FOR THE LOCALIZER APPRCH. RADAR INDICATED THAT THE ACFT DID NOT BECOME STABILIZED ON THE APPRCH. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF GRNDSPD AS THE PLT WAS ATTMPTNG TO GET ESTABLISHED ON THE LOCALIZER. RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST ABT 2 MI FM THE ARPT AT A SPD APPRCHNG STALL SPD FOR THIS ACFT. THE ACFT CRASHED ABT 2 MI SHORT AND TO THE RT OF COURSE. THE ACFT IMPACTED IN A VERTICAL NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE ON HDG WHICH INDICATED A TURN AWAY FM THE ARPT. THE LEFT PROP WAS FOUND IN THE FEATHER POSITION. NO MECH PBLM WAS DISCOVERED. THE RT ENG APPEARED TO BE PRODUCING FULL PWR AT IMPACT.
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; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,125 hours in all; 58 in this make and model; 226 in the last 90 days; 55 in the last 30 days; 2,125 as pilot in command; 216 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,713 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, January 4, 1988; 19 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,750 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-B1A5 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Central Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: GCK Garden City KS at 1:24 am
- Destination: ICT Wichita, KS
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 35, 5,999 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 340° at 30 knots, gusting 35
- Sky: not recorded
- Temperature: 25°F (-4°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:50 am from GCK, 2 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.