Cessna 414A Destroyed in Night IFR Collision with Terrain in Kansas (N41LP)

Accident Overview and Flight Details On February 16, 2008, at approximately 1845 central standard time, a Cessna 414A, registration N41LP, owned by Bajaj Holdings LLC, was destroyed when it impacted terrain near Lloyd Stearman Field Airport (1K1) in Benton, Kansas. A post-impact fire followed. The flight was a personal cross-country repositioning flight from 1K1 to Colonel James Jabara Airport (AAO) in Wichita, Kansas, to pick up an additional passenger, with a final destination of Austin, Texas. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a filed flight plan for the initial leg. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed. The private pilot and his passenger were fatally injured. Witnesses located south, east, and west of the impact site reported seeing the aircraft depart runway 35, fly in and out of clouds, initiate a turn to the west, and descend below the tree line before flames and fireballs were observed.