CHI94LA226

Factual narrative

On July 8, 1994, about 1545 eastern daylight time, a Cessna T210M, N88XH, crashed into Lake Michigan shortly after takeoff from the Beaver Island Airport, Beaver Island, Michigan. The airplane was destroyed, and the two private pilots received fatal injuries. No flight plan was filed for the business flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The pilot received two weather briefings from the Lansing, Michigan, Flight Service Station prior to departure. He was advised that IFR conditions and fog prevailed on his route of proposed flight. The airport manager reported the weather was IMC all day with low ceilings, rain and fog. He said the visibility on the airport when the mishap airplane departed was about 3/4 mile, but decreased to 100 feet or less over the lake. Two persons who are pilots were working at Bonner's Landing near the departure end of the runway the pilot used heard the airplane takeoff. They reported, "The fog was tremendous." Both gentlemen said the airplane took off headed, out over the lake, and sounded like it was returning to the island when they heard an impact and loud splash. They reported the sound of the engine as loud and steady. Both the pilot and his passenger were private pilots. Neither gentleman had an instrument rating. From information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, both gentlemen had reported about 4000 hours total flight time on their last physical examination. Both gentlemen had expired medical certificates. The portions of the wreckage were recovered on July 19, 1994. The items recovered were examined by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA Inspector reported the landing gear was up, and the flap setting was estimated to be 15 degrees. The propeller was separated from the engine, and all three blades had multiple twists and bends. The aircraft and engine logbooks were reported to have been in the airplane, but were not recovered. THE PRIVATE PILOT AND PILOT RATED PASSENGER, NEITHER OF WHOM WERE INSTRUMENT RATED, ATTEMPTED TO TAKEOFF FROM AN AIRPORT ON AN ISLAND IN LAKE MICHIGAN. THE AIRPLANE CRASHED IN THE LAKE LESS THAN ONE MILE FROM THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY. THE AIRPORT MANAGER REPORTED LOW CEILINGS AND DENSE FOG WITH REDUCED VISIBILITY ALL DAY. TWO PERSONS WHO WERE PILOTS WERE WORKING NEAR THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY AND REPORTED HEARING THE AIRPLANE TAKEOFF, AND MAKE WHAT THEY DESCRIBED AS A TURN TO COME BACK TO THE AIRPORT. THEY HEARD THE IMPACT OF THE AIRPLANE HITTING THE WATER. THE PILOT OBTAINED TWO WEATHER BRIEFINGS FROM FLIGHT SERVICE AND WAS ADVISED OF IMC CONDITIONS AND FOG ALONG HIS PLANNED ROUTE OF FLIGHT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12