Mastery Flight Training, Inc. 

Beech Weekly Accident Update archives

January 2007 Reports

Official information from FAA and NTSB sources (unless otherwise noted).  Editorial comments (contained in parentheses), year-to-date summary and closing comments are those of the author.  All information is preliminary and subject to change.  Comments on preliminary topics are meant solely to enhance flying safety.  Please use these reports to help you more accurately evaluate the potential risks when you make your own decisions about how and when to fly.  Please accept my sincere personal condolences if anyone you know was in a mishap. I welcome your comments, suggestions and criticisms.  Fly safe, and have fun!

©2007 Mastery Flight Training, Inc.  All Rights Reserved

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

1/2 2000Z (1400 local):  A Be55, on a “training” mission, experienced a gear collapse on landing at Ryan Field, Tucson, Arizona.  The two aboard were not hurt and damage is “minor”.  Weather: “sky clear”, visibility five miles with calm winds.  N555HU (TC-464) is a 1963 A55 registered since 2004 to an individual in Show Low, Arizona.

(“Gear collapse on landing”; “Dual instruction”)

1/2 2005Z (1505 local):  A Be58 “on takeoff hit the trees and crashed” at Washington, Indiana, killing the solo pilot.  Damage is “unknown” and weather conditions “not reported”.  N678DC (TH-1517) is/was a 1987 Model 58 registered since 2000 to a corporation in Montgomery, Indiana.

(“Impact with object/animal during takeoff”)

NTSB PRELIMINARY or FACTUAL REPORTS:  All previously reported in the Weekly Accident Update, and subject to update per NTSB findings.

**There are no new piston Beech NTSB reports this week**

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

1/3 1915Z (1415 local):  A Be55 landed gear up at Chamblee, Georgia.  The solo pilot was not hurt despite “substantial” aircraft damage.  Weather at KPDK was 1800 overcast, visibility 10 miles, with a variable, four-knot surface wind.  N1528W (TE-858) is a 1972 E55 registered since 1998 to a corporation based in Dover, Delaware.

(“Gear up landing”; “Substantial damage”)

NTSB PRELIMINARY or FACTUAL REPORTS:  All previously reported in the Weekly Accident Update, and subject to update per NTSB findings.

**There are no new piston Beech NTSB reports this week**

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

1/12 1925Z (1225 local):  A Be36 incurred “minor” damage when, “on landing, [its] right wing tip struck the runway” during a dual “training” flight at Farmington, New Mexico.  The pilot was not hurt.  Weather at KFMN: 5500 overcast, visibility 10 miles, with winds from 170 at eight knots.  N8183E (E-2612) is a 1991 A36 registered since 2000 to a flight training corporation based in Farmington.

(“Stall on landing—crosswind”; "Dual instruction".  The chief instructor of the training program, a WAU reader, provides these details: "It was a dual [instructional] flight, landing on RWY 23 with winds 190 at 15G25, so the crosswind was from the left.  That was not the major factor in the mishap however.  RWY 23 is 150 feet wide vs. 100 for the main 25 RWY [normally used at KFMN], so everyone is used to the sight picture on the 100 foot wide RWY.  As a result the student flared a bit high and made the mistake in the gusty winds of reducing the power too quickly.  They were also using flaps 12 [approach setting] instead of 30 [full] because of the crosswind component, which was normal [per the program's procedure] but [they also] only carried 85 knots on final.  Should have been 90 at least because of the gust factor.  So they ran out of airspeed 10-15 feet in the air and stalled, striking the right wingtip.  Instructor called for go around but too late.  Then the plane settled onto the runway and they taxied clear.  Damage to the wing tip piece and aileron (they tried to right the wings with aileron instead of rudder—also a bad choice).  We can repair it here except for the aileron damage.  Should have it flying again by the weekend."  There are several good lessons in these observations.  Thanks, reader, for letting us learn from your experience!)

1/14 2130Z (1430 local):  A Be35 “force landed due to mechanical problems in the desert five miles from Sedona, Arizona.”  The solo pilot reports no injury; aircraft damage is “unknown”.  Weather at Flagstaff, Arizona was 11,000 broken, visibility 10 miles with a six-knot surface wind.  N4920B (D-4325) is/was a 1955 F35 recently (February 2006) registered to a co-ownership in Sedona.

(“Force landed due to unspecified mechanical problem”; “Recent registration”)

1/15 0040Z (1940 local):  The solo pilot of a Be36 died, and his Bonanza was “destroyed”, when the aircraft “Crashed under unknown circumstances into a residential street” in Wayne, New Jersey.  Weather for the night approach was 500 scattered, 10,000 broken, visibility four miles in drizzle and a three-knot surface wind.  N711SK (E-877) was a 1976 A36 registered since 1993 to a Wilmington, Delaware-based corporation.

(“Approach/unknown”; “Fatal”; “Aircraft destroyed”; “IMC”; “Night”—press accounts state: “The plane crashed about 8 p.m. in the driveway of a home in Wayne, N.J., northwest of New York City. According to reports from the scene, the plane exploded on impact. No damage was reported to nearby homes, and no injuries were reported on the ground. The Associated Press, quoting sources in the Passaic County Sheriff's Department, said the plane had left Charlotte [North Carolina] and was headed for the Essex County Airport [in Caldwell, New Jersey]. The airport is about four miles from the crash scene….The plane's fuselage was badly burned, with only its white-and-gold tail remaining intact.  Wayne Deputy Police Chief John Reardon told The Record of Bergen County that the plane apparently struck some nearby trees, then flipped over and struck the middle of the street. It eventually ended up in the driveway of a home, but did not strike the house. Neighbors said no one was home at the time.  Heavy fog was reported in the area at the time of the crash.”  The pilot was reportedly very familiar with the Essex County Airport and its approaches.  A flight log of the trip reveals nothing unusual, with 2 hours 38 minutes’ radar contact en route.)

NTSB PRELIMINARY or FACTUAL REPORTS:  All previously reported in the Weekly Accident Update, and subject to update per NTSB findings.

**1/2 fatal Baron 58 crash at Washington, Indiana. Change “Impact with object/animal during takeoff” to “In-flight collision with trees and terrain while maneuvering”, add “Aircraft destroyed” and change “Weather not reported” to “VMC” **    

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

1/19 2156Z (1656 local):  While on a “training” flight, a Be95 experienced a landing gear malfunction that resulted in a landing with the gear partially extended, at Arlington, Texas.  There were no injuries and damage is “minor”; weather was 8000 overcast, visibility 10 miles with a six-knot wind.  N13AW (TD-184) is a 1958 Model 95 registered since 2000 to an individual in Cedar Hill, Texas.

(“Gear collapse on landing—known mechanical system failure”—Videotaped on landing after reportedly exhausting all means to get the gear down, the crew set the Travel Air down expertly, its gear collapsing on touchdown.  My only critique is that the pilots forgot to turn off electrical power before touchdown to further protect against fire, as evidenced in the video by the rotating beacon after the crew evacuated the aircraft.)

1/22 2340Z (1540 local):  A Be35 landed gear up at Gillespie Field, El Cajon, California.  The three aboard the flight, which originated at nearby Ramona, California, were not hurt.  Damage to the Bonanza is “minor”.  Weather: “sky clear”, visibility 25 miles, with a 10-knot wind.  N3236C (D-3901) is a 1954 E35 registered since 1971 to an individual in La Mesa, California.

(“Gear up landing”)

NTSB PRELIMINARY or FACTUAL REPORTS:  All previously reported in the Weekly Accident Update, and subject to change per NTSB findings.

**1/15 fatal A36 crash while on approach to Caldwell Airport, Caldwell, New Jersey.  The report gives no more answers about the Bonanza’s descent, under apparently normal under control until [likely] impacting the first obstacle and “descend[ing] sharply ‘at the end’”, about a mile inside the final approach fix and as much as 600 feet below MDA.  Conditions on the ground were “very foggy” and estimated by a police officer to be about 1/8 mile visibility…which alone, of course, does not explain a controlled flight into terrain by this highly experienced pilot.  Might a grossly mis-set or mis-read altimeter be a factor in this crash?  Could fatigue have played a part on a nearly three-hour trip culminating in a night nonprecision approach into foggy IMC?  Hopefully the NTSB final report, due some time within about a year, will tell us more.**    

SUMMARY: Reported Raytheon/Beechcraft piston mishaps, year-to-date 2007:

Total reported:  8 reports 

Operation in VMC:  6 reports    

Operation in IMC:    1 report    

Weather “unknown” or “not reported”:  0 report    

Operation at night:  1 report          

Fatal accidents:  2 reports    

“Serious” injury accidents (not involving fatalities):  reports  

“Substantial” damage:  1 report    

Aircraft “destroyed”:   2 reports    

Recent registration (within previous 12 months):   1 report    

(Note: FAA preliminary reports no longer identify the purpose of the flight involved in mishap.  Consequently the number and percentage of Beech mishaps that occur during dual instruction will become less and less accurate over time.  Since the late 1990s the percentage of Beech mishaps that take place during dual flight instruction has remained very consistently about 10%). 

By Aircraft Type:

Be35 Bonanza   2 reports

Be36 Bonanza   2 reports

Be95 Travel Air   2 reports    

Be55 Baron     1 report      

Be58 Baron    1 report 

PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION OF CAUSE (all subject to update per NTSB findings):

LANDING GEAR-RELATED MISHAPS (4 reports) 

Gear up landing

2 reports (Be35; Be55)

Gear collapse (landing)

1 report (Be95)

Gear collapse on landing—known mechanical system failure

1 report (Be95)

MISCELLANEOUS CAUSES  (2 reports) 

Force landed due to unspecified mechanical problem

1 report (Be35)

In-flight collision with trees and terrain while maneuvering

1 report (Be58)

IMPACT-RELATED FAILURE ON LANDING  (1 report) 

Wingtip strike on landing—crosswind

1 report (Be36)

CAUSE UNKNOWN  (1 report)   

Approach/Unknown

1 report (Be36)

Recognize an N-number?  Want to check on friends or family that may have been involved in a cited mishap?  Click here to find the registered owner.   

Please accept my sincere personal condolences if you or anyone you know was involved in a mishap.  I welcome your comments, suggestions and criticisms.  Fly safe, and have fun!

Thomas P. Turner

Mastery Flight Training, Inc.

mastery.flight.training@cox.net

There's much more aviation safety information at www.thomaspturner.net .

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