Nichols Construction

Cessna 441 Conquest

After takeoff from Shreveport, the twin engine airplane climbed to its assigned altitude when the pilot obtained the permission to modify his route to avoid a storm. Then the aircraft flew to the east and climbed to the excessive altitude of 41,600 feet (some 6,600 feet above the maximum certified altitude for the aircraft) and the radio contact was lost with the pilot. An Air National Guard Convair F-106 Delta Dart fighter aircraft was dispatched and its pilot confirmed that both occupants seems to be unconscious. After few minutes, both engines stopped due to lack of fuel and the airplane entered a spin and eventually crashed in the Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles east of Norfolk, Virginia. Few debris were found floating on water but the main wreckage was never found as well as both occupants, the pilot Louis Benscotter and the football and baseball coach Robert Edward 'Bo' Rein aged 34.