Mastery Flight Training

Mastery Flight Training, Inc. Beech Weekly Accident Update archives

September 2006 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!

9/7/2006 Report

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

9/1 2004Z (1304 local): On a “touch and go landing”, a Be60’s “nose wheel and main gear collapsed”, at Mesa, Arizona. The two aboard were not hurt and damage is deemed “minor”. Weather at Mesa: “few clouds” at 8000, 20,000 scattered, visibility 30 miles with a five-knot wind. N6144C (P-585) is a 1981 B60 recently (November 2005) registered to a corporation in Phoenix, Arizona.

(“Gear collapse on landing”; “Recent registration”—another in the strong correlation between the rapid inputs necessary for a touch-and-go and landing gear collapse)

9/2 1300Z (0800 local): “On departure,” a Be55 crashed “following a loss of control” at McGregor, Texas. The solo pilot died; the Baron was “destroyed”. Weather was “few clouds” at 3400, 4600 broken, 6000 broken, with 10 miles visibility and a five-knot surface wind. N181Y (TC-488) was a 1963 A55 registered since 2004 to a co-ownership based in Crawford, Texas.

(“Loss of control during takeoff/initial climb”; “Fatal”; “Aircraft destroyed”—press accounts state the pilot, age 73, a retired Air Force fighter pilot and lieutenant general, “left the airport heading south…. [He] soon turned the plane around, however, and headed back toward the airport. The plane crashed in a field about a quarter-mile west of the airport's main runway….” Multiple witnesses on the airport state the Baron was at about 200 feet AGL when it “suddenly pitched upwards and rolled into a very steep left turn”. They agree it does not appear the pilot was attempting to return to the airport. There was no outward indication of engine failure; the Baron was fully fueled and all fuel tested good. The airplane’s co-owner reportedly said the mishap pilot had just recently completed a “checkride” to qualify in the Baron. It’s not known if the pilot attempted to take off using auxiliary fuel tanks [we’ve seen this lead to fatal mishaps before] or what other pilot distractions may have presented themselves.)

9/3 0358Z (2058 local 9/2/2006): “While inbound” for landing at San Diego, California, the pilot of a Be55 “reported alternator failure. On landing, the nose gear collapsed.” The solo pilot was not injured and damage is “minor”. Weather: 6000 scattered, visibility 12 miles, with a five-knot wind. N65WR (TC-923) is a 1965 B55 registered since 2004 to an individual in San Diego.

(“Gear collapse—electrical failure”—we see this a lot in the mishap reports as well. The Beech landing gear system is designed to operate at full voltage, in the case of this Baron, at 28 volts. The gear is also designed, through a dynamic brake system, to cut off electrical power to the gear motor before the gear transmission hits an internal stop. At normal voltage the gear is traveling fast enough that, when the dynamic brake engages, the gear has enough momentum to continue into the downlocks. If the gear system is operating under anything less than full voltage, as in this case, the gear motor spins less rapidly and the gear may not have the momentum necessary to full lock down after the dynamic brake engages. Compounding this is the fact that the gear legs may get far enough out to engage the switches that provide “down and locked” indications in the cockpit, yet not be fully locked down, when extending on anything less than full system voltage. This is why I feel it is imperative, if extending the landing gear on les-than-full voltage, that the pilot follow up with the Manual Landing Gear Extension procedure. It may only take a turn or less of the gear handcrank to lock the gear down, but that may make the difference between a normal landing and the oft-repeated “electrical failure/gear collapse” incident we see here. Another lesson: fully test redundant systems, including the dual alternator/dual regulator system on this Baron, or you may not have use of that redundancy when you need it.)

9/3 2038Z (1438 local): The engine of a Be33 “failed” and the pilot “force-landed on a highway” near Mesquite, Nevada. There were no injuries or damage; weather was “not reported”. N444SH (CE-1079) is a 1986 F33A registered since 1998 to an individual in Las Vegas, Nevada.

(“Engine failure in flight”—and what sounds like a good emergency landing following the unspecified emergency cause)

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

**9/2 fatal Baron loss of control on takeoff at McGregor, Texas, cited above**

9/14/2006 Report

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

(“Gear collapse on landing”; “Recent registration”—another in the strong correlation between the rapid inputs necessary for a touch-and-go and landing gear collapse)

(“Engine failure in flight”—and what sounds like a good emergency landing following the unspecified emergency cause)

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

**9/2 fatal Baron loss of control on takeoff at McGregor, Texas, cited above**

9/21/2006 Report

FROM UNOFFICIAL SOURCES

9/8 1800Z (1400 local): The Associated Press reports an unidentified Be33 crashed under unknown circumstances in South Windsor, Connecticut. The solo pilot was taken to the hospital with “facial injuries” but by evening was in “stable” condition. “During its sharp descent, the aircraft struck a tree in [a] backyard and lost a portion of the right wing. The airplane [then] hit the ground at the edge of [the] yard, shearing off at least two hemlock trees and smashing his fence. It then slid across [a second resident’s] backyard into the maple tree. It remained upright and did not catch fire.” Judging by a press photo of the crash site damage appears to be “substantial”, although there was little damage evident on the ground. The pilot was identified as a 78-year-old technical school president from Nashua, New Hampshire, who was en route to Hartford, Connecticut when his Bonanza crashed. The airplane is further identified in the press account as an F33A.

(“Crash/Unknown”; “Serious injuries”; “Substantial damage”—curiously, this has not yet appeared in FAA or NTSB preliminary reports, 12 days after the mishap at the time of this writing).

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

9/13 1740Z (1240 local): Arriving from Nashville, Tennessee, a Be60’s right main landing gear collapsed at Wichita, Kansas. The Duke “slid off the runway,” incurring “minor” damage but sparing the solo pilot injury. Weather was “clear and 10” with a 10-knot wind. N242MF (P-465) is a 1978 B60 registered since 1987 to an individual in Boca Raton, Florida.

(“Gear collapse on landing”)

9/15 (time not reported): A Be33 was found nine miles south of Telluride, Colorado, after going overdue on a planned flight from Taos, New Mexico to Telluride. Three aboard the Debonair died, and the airplane was “destroyed”. Weather was not reported. N5893J (CD-921) was a 1965 C33 registered since 2001 to an individual in Dallas, Texas.

(“Crash/unknown”; “Fatal”; “Aircraft destroyed”—this was reportedly a club airplane.  Press reports state: “The wreckage of a single-engine airplane that slammed into a

Colorado mountain peak after departing Friday morning from Addison [Texas] Airport was located early Monday. At least three…were killed. The debris was spread over a

two-mile area between 13,000 and 14,000 feet in steep terrain….[A fourth person] may have been on the aircraft, although [authorities have] not been able to confirm it….

The cause of the accident is under investigation. But Colorado authorities said the plane was flying through bad weather when it crashed…. The plane was flying at 13,800

feet when it failed to clear Wilson Peak, which is 14,017 feet high…. [T]hunderstorms ringed the mountain [as the Debonair was] approaching….  During recovery efforts

Sunday, two members of a local Sheriff's Department search team were nearly crushed by falling rocks while trying to navigate Wilson Peak. ‘They were going to climb up

to it,’ said 1st Lt. Mark Young of the Colorado Civil Air Patrol. ‘With the recent snow, the rocks are moving, and two of them were almost killed.’ Authorities began looking

for the airplane after the pilot's family called the Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday morning, concerned that they had not heard from him. The lack of a flight plan

‘is extremely frustrating,’ said Lt. Young…. ‘If one had been filed, a search would have been initiated Friday, rather than Saturday.’ Still, even if the search had begun a day

earlier, the probability of a rescue was remote. ‘The crash was not survivable,’ Lt. Young said…. Someone who saw the plane during [a fuel] stop at Taos [New Mexico] told

investigators that there were four people on board…. On Saturday, the patrol reviewed the previous day's radar data and found the Beechcraft disappeared at 11:33 a.m.

Central time - just as it approached the mountain. ‘We have data that shows the plane was headed directly toward the mountain,’ Lt. Young said.”)

9/16 1610Z (1210 local): A Be35, “registration unknown”, landed gear up at Anderson, Indiana. The solo pilot reports no injury, and damage is “minor”. Weather: 2200 scattered, visibility 10 miles, with a five-knot wind.

(“Gear up landing”)

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

**There are no newly posted Beech piston preliminary reports this week**

9/28 /2006 Report

FROM UNOFFICIAL SOURCES

(Date and time not reported; before 9/21/2006): During a dual instructional flight at Chandler, Arizona, the pilot/commercial student of a Be36 reportedly lost control during an attempted go-around following a hard landing. The Bonanza departed the runway and collided with a parked Be35. No one was injured in the crash; photos of the accident airplane and the parked Bonanza indicate the A36 likely has “substantial” damage, while the Be35 is likely “destroyed”. Weather was VMC. Chat line traffic suggests the parked airplane had not flown for some time. N9067E (the in-motion airplane, E-2450) is a 1988 A36 registered since 2002 to a corporation in Phoenix, Arizona, while N3876B (D-4203) is/was a 1955 F35 registered since 1976 to an individual in North Bend, Washington.

(“Loss of control during attempted go-around”; “Substantial damage”; “Dual instruction”)

9/25 (0600 local) The pilot of a Be35 died when the Bonanza crashed into terrain at Mount Killiecranke on Flinders Island in Bass Straight off the northeast coast of Tasmania, Australia. Local news reports “he was climbing all right, then the next thing the plane turned sideways and went…straight into the side of the mountain.” The pilot “left a note, which was found after he crashed.” Because of the contents of the note Australia’s Air Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will not investigate the crash. “There’s no safety issues identified that require their further investigation,” according to a safety inspector. The airplane burned and is presumed “destroyed”. The crash apparently happened in visual weather conditions. VH-DET (D-8525) was a 1967 V35 registered in August 2005 to an individual in Whitemark, Tasmania.

(“Apparent suicide”; “Fatal”; “Aircraft destroyed”—The pilot was well known and liked in the Australian flying community, and I’ve met him myself and enjoyed his company. Truly tragic)

NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK

9/22 1458Z (0958 local): En route IFR from North Platte, Nebraska to La Crosse, Wisconsin, a Be55 “crashed under unknown circumstances” at North Sioux City, South Dakota, killing the solo pilot. The Baron was “destroyed”. Weather at KSUX was 1300 broken, 3800 overcast, visibility 10 miles with a seven-knot surface wind. N4JV (TC-1583) was a 1973 B55 registered since 2004 to a corporation in La Crosse.

(“Crash/Unknown”; “Fatal” “Aircraft destroyed”—the track log of this flight shows normal operations until the beginning of what may have become a rapid rate of descent until there were no more radar hits about an hour into the flight.)

9/23 1800Z (1300 local): Three aboard a Be33 died, and the Bonanza incurred “substantial” damage, when “on takeoff [it] lost power and crashed into the airport property fence” at Alabaster [Birmingham], Alabama. Weather conditions were “not reported”. N8148R (CE-526) is a 1974 F33A registered since March 2005 to a corporation in Indian Springs, Alabama.

(“Fuel exhaustion”; “Fatal” “Substantial damage”—the flight was reportedly a revenue sightseeing hop to benefit a local aviation museum; the passengers were a 11-year-old boy and his father. Investigators “found no evidence of fuel aboard the wrecked plane” and the engine “sounded as it was sputtering as it took off”, according to the report.)

9/23 1800Z (1300 local): The pilot of a Be35 was not hurt despite “substantial” aircraft damage, when the Bonanza “crashed under unknown circumstances” during a local flight at Conroe, Texas. Weather: 4000 scattered, 4900 scattered, 5500 broken, visibility 10 with a 15-knot wind. N374T (D-8165) is a 1966 V35 registered since August 2005 to an individual in Conroe.

(“Crash/Unknown”; “Substantial damage”)

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

** 9/7 F33A impact into a residential yard at South Windsor, Connecticut. “According to the pilot, shortly after he contacted the air traffic control tower at Hartford Airport, he began a descent from 3,000 feet to 1,500 feet. He reduced power, and did not adjust the mixture control, which had been set at 'lean of peak' for 3,000 feet. As the airplane reached 1,500 feet, the engine began to lose RPM, so the pilot adjusted the propeller control to the full forward position, and increased power. The engine continued to lose power and RPM, and the pilot was unable to arrest the airplane's descent. The pilot then selected a residential area for a forced landing, but the airplane struck trees and impacted the ground.” As the airplane descended into thicker air the engine ran leaner and leaner until it apparently could not support combustion. Advancing the throttle in response without enrichening the mixture would only aggravate the problem. Remember if running lean of peak EGT [LOP] to advance mixture control during descent in normally aspirated airplanes to maintain power. If running LOP the first step of an engine failure procedure should be to return the mixture to well rich-of-peak EGT, which may not be optimal for endurance but is almost always a combustible mixture setting. Change “Crash/Unknown” to “Engine failure—improper mixture management” and remove “Serious injuries”.**

**9/11 Beech Skipper engine failure on takeoff at Live Oak, Florida. The Beechcraft, “piloted by a student pilot, was destroyed when the engine lost power during takeoff and the airplane struck terrain at Suwannee County Airport (24J), Live Oak, Florida…. The student pilot was seriously injured…. A witness said he heard the engine ‘cutting out’ and then it ‘quit.’ The airplane impacted terrain about 300 feet to the left of the runway, abeam the threshold” in an apparent attempt to return to the runway. Change “Takeoff/Unknown” to “Engine failure on takeoff”, add “Serious injuries” and change “Substantial damage” to “Aircraft destroyed”.**

**9/15 quadruple-fatality C33 controlled flight into terrain near Telluride, Colorado. The NTSB confirms four were aboard the accident airplane, which had been in dispute. The report is consistent with flight beneath a reported overcast layer about 1000 feet above the cruising altitude of 13,500 MSL when the Debonair hit a 14,017 foot mountain. Change “Crash/Unknown” into “Controlled flight into terrain—cruise flight/mountainous terrain”.**

SUMMARY: Reported Raytheon/Beechcraft piston mishaps, year-to-date 2006:

Total reported: 166 reports

Operation in VMC: 106 reports (64% of total)

Operation in IMC: 10 reports (6% of total)

Weather “unknown” or “not reported”: 50 reports (30% of total)

Operation at night: 10 reports (6% of total)

Fatal accidents: 31 reports (19% of total)

“Serious” injury accidents (not involving fatalities): 5 reports (3% of the total)

“Substantial” damage: 47 reports (28% of total)

Aircraft “destroyed”: 28 reports (17% of total)

Recent registration (within previous 12 months): 38 reports (23% of total)

(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 40 reports

Be36 Bonanza 34 reports

Be33 Debonair/Bonanza 22 reports

Be58 Baron 14 reports

Be55 Baron 13 reports

Be23 Musketeer/Sundowner 11 reports

Be24 Sierra 11 reports

Be60 Duke 6 reports

Be18 Twin Beech 5 reports

Be76 Duchess 3 reports

Be19 Sport 2 reports

Be77 Skipper 2 reports

Be95 Travel Air 2 reports

Be45 Mentor 1 report

Be56 Baron 1 report

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

LANDING GEAR-RELATED MISHAPS (66 reports; 40% of total)

Gear up landing

28 reports (Be18; three Be24s; six Be33s; nine Be35s; five Be36s; Be55; Be58; Be76; Be95)

Gear collapse (landing)

28 reports (Be18; three Be24s; two Be33s; seven Be35s; six Be36s; three Be55s; three Be58s; two Be60s; Be76)

Gear up landing—known mechanical system failure

3 reports (two Be33s; Be60)

Gear collapse during taxi/on ramp

2 reports (both Be58s)

Gear collapse (touch and go)

1 report (Be55)

Gear collapse—takeoff

1 report (Be24)

Gear collapse—known inadvertent pilot activation of gear on ground

1 report (Be55)

Gear collapse on the ground—engine not running

1 report (Be35)

Gear collapse on landing—known mechanical system failure

1 report (Be35)

Gear collapse (electrical failure)

1 report (Be55)

ENGINE FAILURE (31 reports; 19% of total)

Engine failure in flight

11 reports (Be23; two Be33s; two Be35s; four Be36s; Be58; Be77)

Engine failure on takeoff

5 reports (three Be36s; Be45; Be77)

Fuel starvation

4 reports (Be18; Be23; Be35; Be36)

Fuel exhaustion

3 reports (Be33; Be35; Be55)

Engine failure in flight—rod/piston/cylinder failure

2 reports (Be35; Be36)

Engine failure in flight—loss of oil pressure

2 report (Be35; Be36)

Engine failure on takeoff—loss of oil pressure

1 report (Be33)

Engine failure on takeoff—engine maintenance test flight

1 report (Be23)

Engine roughness in flight/precautionary landing

1 report (Be36)

Engine failure—improper mixture management

1 report (Be33)

IMPACT-RELATED FAILURE ON LANDING (22 reports; 13% of total)

Hard landing

7 reports (three Be23s; Be35; three Be36s)

Loss of directional control on landing

7 reports (Be19; two Be23s; Be24; Be33; Be36; Be58)

Landed long

3 reports (Be35; two Be36s)

Impact with obstacle following delayed landing abort

2 reports (Be36; Be58)

Loss of directional control—blown tire on landing

1 report (Be33)

Landed short

1 report (Be19)

Loss of control during attempted go-around

1 report (Be36)

CAUSE UNKNOWN (14 reports; 8% of total)

Crash/Unknown

7 reports (two Be23s; Be24; Be33; two Be35s; Be55)

Landing/Unknown

6 reports (Be18; three Be35s; Be58)

Takeoff/Unknown

1 report (Be35)

MISCELLANEOUS CAUSES (12 reports; 7% of total)

Taxied into obstruction/pedestrian/other aircraft

5 reports (three Be35s; Be60; Be95)

Bird strike

2 reports (Be33; Be55)

Smoke in cabin in flight/possible electrical fire

1 report (Be58)

Blown tire on landing

1 report (Be58)

Window separation in flight

1 report (Be58)

Pilot incapacitation—alcohol impairment

1 report (Be36)

Apparent suicide

1 report (Be35)

IMPACT WITH OBJECT DURING TAKEOFF (6 reports; 4% of total)

Impact with object/animal during takeoff

2 reports (Be55; Be60)

Loss of control during takeoff

2 reports (Be18; Be58)

Runway excursion—low visibility takeoff

1 report (Be33)

Failure to climb—contamination with snow/frost

1 report (Be35)

LOSS OF CONTROL IN FLIGHT (6 reports; 4% of total)

Loss of control during practice maneuvers at altitude

1 report (Be33)

Loss of control-- approach in IMC

1 report (Be35)

Loss of control—pilot incapacitation

1 report (Be56)

Loss of control--In-flight break-up

1 report (Be24)

Loss of control—door open in flight

1 report (Be24)

Loss of control during takeoff/initial climb

1 report (Be55)

CONTROLLED FLIGHT INTO TERRAIN (6 reports; 4% of total)

Attempted visual flight in IMC—mountainous terrain

2 reports (Be23; Be33)

Controlled flight into terrain—cruise flight/mountainous terrain

3 reports (Be33; Be35; Be55)

Impact with obstacle/terrain during attempted visual approach in IMC

1 report (Be36)

STALL/SPIN (4 reports; 2% of total)

Stall or spiral during go-around/missed approach

2 reports (Be23; Be76)

Stall during circling maneuver in low IMC

1 report (Be55)

Stall/Spin on takeoff

1 report (Be60)

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.com.

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