Air Midwest Flight 5481 was a Beechcraft 1900D on a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina. On the morning of January 8, 2003, the Beechcraft stalled while departing Charlotte Douglas International Airport and crashed into an aircraft hangar, killing all 21 passengers and crew aboard and injuring one person on the ground. Accident Flight information Air Midwest Flight 5481 (operating as a US Airways Express flight under a franchise agreement with US Airways) was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport near Charlotte, North Carolina, to Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina. On January 8, 2003, Flight 5481 was operated by a Beechcraft 1900D (registration number ). The aircraft was originally delivered new to Air Midwest in 1996, and had accumulated 15,003 flight hours at the time of the crash. Two crew members and 19 passengers were aboard the Beechcraft. The two crew members and 12 passengers were American; the rest were from different nationalities. The crew consisted of Captain Catherine "Katie" Leslie (age 25) and First Officer Jonathan Gibbs (age 27). Leslie was the youngest captain flying for the airline at that time, and had accrued 1,865 hours total company flying time, including 1,100 hours as the pilot-in-command of a Beechcraft 1900D. Gibbs had 706 hours of flying time in Beechcraft 1900D aircraft. Both pilots were based in Charlotte. Departure and crash On the morning of January 8, 2003, ramp agents loaded 23 checked bags onto Flight 5481, including two unusually heavy bags. The flight crew completed their preflight checklists, including center of gravity (CG) checks. Flight 5481 left the gate about 08:30 Eastern Standard Time. At 08:37, ground controllers cleared Flight 5481 to taxi to runway 18R for departure. At 08:46, the tower controller cleared Flight 5481 for takeoff, and the pilots applied takeoff power and began their takeoff roll. Immediately after becoming airborne, Flight 5481's nose began to rapidly pitch up. By the time it reached an altitude of above ground level, the plane's nose had pitched up 20°. Despite both pilots trying forcefully to push the nose down, the plane continued to pitch nose-up, reaching a maximum of 54° of pitch. The aircraft's stall-warning horn sounded, and the pilots declared an emergency to air traffic controllers. After climbing to an altitude of , the plane stalled, abruptly