Date:	Monday 9 December 2019
Time:	20:16
Type:	Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster
Owner/operator:	Martinaire
Registration:	N4602B
MSN:	208B0140
Year of manufacture:	1988
Total airframe hrs:	17284 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	ca 11 km NE of Victoria Regional Airport, TX (VCT) -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Victoria Regional Airport, TX (VCT/KVCT)
Destination airport:	Houston-George Bush Intercontinental Airport, TX (IAH/KIAH)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Martinaire Flight 679, a Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster, N4602B, enroute to George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport (KIAH) in Houston, Texas, has impacted the terrain of Victoria County northeast of its point of departure at Victoria Regional Airport (KVCT) in Victoria, Texas.
After departing from Runway 13L at 20:02, air traffic control (ATC) directed the pilot to climb and maintain 3000 ft mean sea level (msl). After climbing through 1900 ft msl, the airplane began a series of fifteen course reversals, which continued throughout the remainder of the flight. The course reversals alternated between right and left turns, each with more than 90 degrees of heading change. ATC queried the pilot several times concerning the airplane's erratic course. At 20:08 and 20:11, the pilot stated that he had "some instrument problem" and after a suggestion by ATC, the pilot agreed to return to VCT. As the airplane continued to make turns, a rapid descent occurred, and radar contact was lost.
The airplane impacted a rural area at a near vertical attitude, with the propeller hub buried about 5 ft deep into clay soil. The airplane was highly fragmented, with remnants of the fuel tank and engine tubing located 225 ft from the main wreckage.

The pilot had a history of poor procedural knowledge and weak flying skills. It is possible that he either failed to turn on an inverter during ground operations and did not respond to the accompanying warning flags, or he did not switch to the other inverter in the event that an inverter failed inflight. The accident flight was the pilot’s third flight in an inverter-equipped airplane.

Probable Cause: "The pilot’s loss of control due to spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident were the inoperative attitude indicator and horizontal situation indicator on the pilot’s side of the cockpit, and the pilot’s failure to reference the flight instruments that were operative."

01:51 UTC / 19:51 local time:
KVCT 100151Z 14006KT 6SM HZ FEW028 OVC047 23/19 A2982 RMK AO2 SLP097 T02280194

02:34 UTC / 20:34 local time:
KVCT 100234Z 16006KT 6SM HZ FEW015 SCT039 OVC048 23/20 A2984 RMK AO2 T02280200

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photo (c) NTSB; near Victoria Regional Airport, TX (VCT); 09 December 2019; (publicdomain)

photo (c) NTSB; near Victoria Regional Airport, TX (VCT); 09 December 2019; (publicdomain)

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