Shreveport – Baton Rouge

On January 11, 1980 at 01:23 AM, Shreveport – Baton Rouge experienced a crash involving Cessna 441 Conquest, operated by Nichols Construction, with the event recorded near Atlantic Ocean All World.

The flight was categorized as private and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

2 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 1, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. 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.

Aircraft reference details include registration N441NC, MSN 441-0099, year of manufacture 1979.