Incident Overview
During arrival, the pilot conducted an ILS localizer backcourse approach to runway 16 and was cleared to land. The pilot reported initiating a missed approach, but approximately 10 seconds later, he reported the runway in sight and requested a visual approach to land on runway 34. After being cleared to land, the aircraft was observed maneuvering to the right (west of the runway), then turning back left to a final approach. The aircraft crashed short of runway 35.
Crash Site Examination
Examination of the crash site revealed evidence that the aircraft was in a normal upright attitude on a heading of 340 degrees at the time of impact. The initial impact was with the approach lighting system short of runway 34.
Weather and Altitudes
A King Air pilot who landed on runway 16 before the accident estimated the cloud bases were about 400 feet above ground level (AGL). The minimum descent altitude (MDA) for the backcourse approach was 460 feet mean sea level (MSL). The MDA for a circling approach to runway 16 was 550 feet MSL. The airport elevation was 32 feet.