What happened
While arriving at the airport, the pilot was performing an ILS localizer back course approach toward runway 16 and had received clearance to land. During this process, the pilot notified air traffic control that a missed approach was being initiated. Roughly ten seconds after this notification, the pilot reported seeing the runway and requested permission to transition to a visual approach for runway 34. After receiving clearance, the aircraft was seen maneuvering to the right, positioned west of the runway, before turning left to intercept the final approach path.
Tragically, the aircraft struck the approach lighting system located short of runway 34. Investigation of the wreckage indicated that the Beechcraft King Air was maintaining a normal upright attitude on a heading of 340 degrees at the moment of impact. The accident resulted in two fatalities.
Findings
Data from the scene indicated that the airport elevation was 32 feet. At the time of the accident, a pilot of another King Air aircraft, who had landed on runway 16 just prior to the event, estimated the cloud base to be approximately 400 feet above ground level. For context, the minimum descent altitude for the back course approach was 460 feet MSL, while the MDA for a circling approach to runway 16 was 550 feet MSL.