2008 Beech V35 Bonanza In-Flight Breakup Near Bristol, Ohio (N7947M)

Accident Overview and Flight Details On May 12, 2008, at 1105 EDT, a Beech V35 Bonanza, registration N7947M, was destroyed on impact after an in-flight breakup near Bristol, Ohio. The aircraft was operated by a 65-year-old private pilot with an instrument rating and was carrying one passenger. Both individuals were fatally injured. The flight departed Tri-State/Ferguson Field (KHTS) in Huntington, West Virginia, at 1018 EDT, en route to Greater Rochester International Airport (KROC) in Rochester, New York, under 14 CFR Part 91 on an instrument flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions existed at the assigned cruise altitude, while marginal visual conditions prevailed at the surface. The pilot had filed for a 5,000-foot cruise altitude after being briefed on an active moderate icing advisory between the freezing level and 20,000 feet, but later requested and received clearance to climb to 7,000 feet, and subsequently to 9,000 feet, citing proximity to cloud tops. The last radar return was recorded at 1104:32 without altitude information, following a right spiraling descent from 9,100 to 7,800 feet over 40 seconds.