twin Astazou X turboprop modification of the Baron first flown in 1961 developed from SFERMA's 1960 Astazou IIA turboprop conversion of a Model 95 Travel Air (SFERMA PD-146 Marquis). At least ten converted to follow on from eight converted Travel Airs. Operators Government operators Presidential Flight – One Baron 55 temporarily transferred during 1989 from the Junta Nacional de Carnes. Military operators Argentine Army – One Baron 55 and one 58. Retired in 1983. Bolivian Air Force – One, crashed 2 May 2020 Haiti Air Corps Indonesian Navy – 2x G58 Baron in 2015 Mexican Air Force Mexican Naval Aviation Rhodesian Air Force – One aircraft only. Spanish Air Force Turkish Air Force Turkish Army United States Army Uruguayan Air Force Accidents and incidents The Beechcraft Baron has been involved in the following notable accidents and incidents. On 20 July 1973, land artist Robert Smithson, a photographer, and the pilot died in the crash of a Baron E55, aircraft registration number N814T, while inspecting the site of Smithson's earthwork Amarillo Ramp on the ranch of Stanley Marsh 3 near Amarillo, Texas. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) attributed the accident to the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, with distraction being a contributing factor. On 3 August 1976, Jerry Litton, U.S. Representative from Missouri, his wife and two children, and two others died when their Baron 58, registration number N1553W, crashed shortly after takeoff from Chillicothe Municipal Airport in Chillicothe, Missouri, on the same day that Litton had won the Democratic Party primary for the 1976 United States Senate election in Missouri. The NTSB attributed the accident to an engine failure caused by breakage of the crankshaft; the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and raise the landing gear were contributing factors. On 5 January 1977, in the Connellan air disaster, fired Connellan Airways pilot Colin Richard Forman deliberately crashed a stolen Baron 58, registration VH-ENA, into the Connellan Airways complex at Alice Springs Airport, killing himself, his former manager and three other Connellan employees, and injuring four others. On 23 November 1982, Southern Baptist religious humorist, television personality and author Grady Nutt and two air charter pilots died in the near-vertical crash of a Baron 95-B55, registration number N18411, shortly after takeoff from Folsom Field in Cullman, Alabama under nighttime instrument meteorological conditions. The NTSB was unable to conclusively determine the cause of the crash, but bad weather and poor visibility