What happened
On the evening of the accident, an aircraft arrived at Norfolk Regional Airport at approximately 19:07 CDT to load extra cargo for a subsequent flight to Omaha, Nebraska. Surveillance footage from the airport recorded the aircraft's departure from runway 20. After lifting off, the aircraft entered a left-hand bank and began a descent that led to a terrain impact.
The wreckage was located roughly 640 yards southeast of the end of runway 20. The crash site showed several ground scars, including depressions consistent with the wings, empennage, and main landing gear. At the moment of impact, the aircraft was positioned in a nearly level, flat attitude. The impact caused the right main landing gear and the tail section to fracture, with parts of the tail remaining at the primary impact site. The forward section of the aircraft traveled an additional 24 yards toward the east, coming to a stop facing northeast.
A fire broke out following the impact, destroying much of the debris. While the aircraft's major components were recovered at the site, the cockpit instruments were too heavily damaged by fire to provide useful data. The aircraft's flaps were in the retracted position, though the landing gear was found extended. The pilot, who was the only person on board, was killed in the accident.
Findings
An examination of the wreckage indicated that the flight control systems remained functional and continuous prior to the crash. No non-volatile memory devices were recovered from the site for data analysis.