Accident Overview
On October 24, 2004, at approximately 1235 eastern daylight time, a Beech King Air 200, registration N501RH, operated by Hendrick Motorsports, Inc., was destroyed when it impacted mountainous terrain near Stuart, Virginia. The flight was conducting a missed approach to Martinsville/Blue Ridge Airport (MTV) in Martinsville, Virginia. All two flight crewmembers and eight passengers lost their lives in the accident. The aircraft was consumed by impact forces and a post-crash fire.
Flight Details
The flight was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. The purpose of the trip was to transport Hendrick Motorsports employees and others to an automobile race in Martinsville, Virginia. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew's failure to properly execute the published instrument approach procedure, including the published missed approach procedure, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain. A contributing factor was the flight crew's failure to use all available navigational aids to confirm and monitor the airplane's position during the approach.