What: small BEECH 35-B33, registration: N945T registered to the Eagle Squadron Inc en route from Tallahassee to Vandenberg Airport
Where: lost from radar over the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf off Homosassa
When: Nov. 30
Who: pilot Darien Peckham and passenger Zachary Schlitt both fatalities
Why: Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed.The last radar hit was latitude 28.47:00 North and longitude 082.54:00 west. The airplane was on a heading of 143 degrees and mode c altitude was 5,000 feet mean sea level (msl). The United States Coast Guard located debris matching the description of the airplanes colors and personal effects from the persons onboard, several miles off shore from Homosassa Bay, FL, on the morning of December 1, 2008.
Satellite weather imagery depicted a line of clouds along the front and over the last radar hit, consisting of nimbostratus to embedded cumulonimbus clouds with level 3 to 4 “heavy” intensity echoes. Sounding data has winds from the west at 50 knots at 5,000 feet, with a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. There were in-flight weather advisories issued, including an AIRMET for occasional moderate turbulence below 12,000 feet over the region.
The pilot, age 35, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land, multiengine airplane, and instrument airplane. He was issued a first-class medical certificate on May 31, 2007, with no limitation. He had documented 950 total hours at that time.
The passenger, age 28, held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single engine land. He was issued a third-class medical certificate on Oct 23, 2006, with no limitation. He had documented 130 total hours at that time.
