Beech Piston Airplane Weekly Accident Update
Beechcraft Piston Aircraft Accidents posted 5/8/08 through 5/14/08
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.
©2008 Mastery Flight Training, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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.
**THE WEEKLY ACCIDENT UPDATE IS AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCT OF MASTERY FLIGHT TRAINING, INC.**
NEW REPORTS THIS WEEK
5/9 2240Z (1840 local): “While taxiing after landing,” the pilot of a Be35 “retracted [the] gear instead of flaps, and the nose gear and right main gear collapsed,” at New Hudson, Michigan. No one was hurt; damage is “known” and weather at nearby Pontiac, MI was 6000 scattered, visibility 10 with a 10-knot wind. N8388D (D-5513) is a 1958 J35 registered since 2005 to an individual in Bingham Farms, Michigan.
(“Gear collapse—pilot activation of gear on ground”—we’ve seen before that we cannot depend on landing gear squat switches to protect us if we accidentally move the landing gear selector on the ground. Use extreme caution to positively identify all controls before repositioning to prevent this frequently-$40,000+ mistake.)
5/10 2240Z (1540 local): Two aboard were unhurt despite “substantial” aircraft damage, when a Be19 “crashed while landing [at] Burns Municipal Airport, Burns, Oregon.” Weather was “clear and 10” with a variable, four-knot wind. N9342S (MB-776) is a 1975 B19 registered since 2002 to an individual in Summerville, Oregon.
(“Loss of directional control on landing” [based on witness reports]; “Substantial damage”—despite the benign METAR, local sources report the Beech Sport lost control in a “gust of wind” on landing.)
5/11 1540Z (1040 local): “On takeoff,” a Be18’s “gear collapsed” at Houston, Texas. The two aboard report no injury and damage is “minor”. Weather at KDWH was 7000 broken, visibility 10 with surface winds from 360° at nine gusting to 18 knots. N6676 (CA-104) is a 3NM Twin Beech, year not reported, registered since 1998 to a Spring, Texas-based corporation.
(“Gear collapse on takeoff”; “Wind”)
5/12 1512Z (1112 local): Two died and their Be35 was “destroyed” when it “crashed under unknown circumstances” 15 miles southeast of Zanesville, Ohio. Weather conditions were not reported. N7947M (D-8256) was a 1966 V35 recently (November 2007) registered to an individual in Cullman, Alabama.
(“Crash/Unknown”; “Fatal”; “Aircraft destroyed”; “Recent registration”—local television news reports the flight was en route from Huntington, West Virginia, where it had undergone unspecified maintenance to include a battery change, to Rochester, New York when it went down in a heavily wooded area. Another TV report includes pictures of small, mostly unidentifiable bits of wreckage suspended in thick treetops.)
5/13 0200Z (2000 local 5/12/2008): A Be55 “crashed [while] performing [a] touch and go” at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. One of the two aboard has “minor” injuries; airplane damage is “substantial”. Weather: 5500 scattered, visibility 10 miles with an eight-knot surface wind. N5885C (TE-868) is a 1972 E55 recently (October 2007) registered to an individual in Coeur d’Alene.
(“Loss of control on takeoff/initial climb”; “Substantial damage”; “Recent registration”—local media reports the Baron “lost power and crashed into two parked vehicles…. One of the two men aboard the plane was sent to a hospital with minor injuries while the other walked away from the crash.” A fire inspector “says the pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings Monday evening when the plane crashed into a pickup and a Sno-Cat vehicle.” A picture accompanying the news posting shows the Baron sitting right-side-up in the parking lot. This suggests directional control was lost before the aircraft was airborne and the aircraft departed he runway into the parking lot, or that the airplane lost power and the pilot maintained wings-level into the ground, as opposed to an engine-related control loss after becoming airborne that would been more likely to have ended with the Baron on its side or inverted. There does not appear to have been any fire.
The combination of two aboard and a touch-and-go at least suggests this may have been an instructional flight. That in turn suggests an instructor may have simulated an engine failure during the “go” part of the touch-and-go, or very shortly after lifting off. Note that the Multiengine Airplane Practical Test Standards prohibit simulating an engine failure on takeoff at any speed above 50% of the “red radial” [VMC] speed to protect against just this sort of instructor-induced loss of control.
There is a period of time after liftoff in a light twin, before gear retraction, when the airplane has enough drag it will very rapidly decelerate to VMC speed or stall extremely quickly after an engine failure. In that configuration the twin-engine pilot is faced with the same options presented a single-engine pilot with an engine failure after takeoff—get the nose down to maintain flying speed for minimum descent rate and lowest impact speed, and land pretty much straight ahead unless much better options exist within the gliding range of the airplane. The difference is that, in a twin, the remaining engine is driving the airplane to diverge in all three axes, and it takes prompt and correct pilot input to maintain control. Avoiding prolonged exposure this most dangerous configuration is the source of “positive rate, gear up” philosophy among almost all multiengine pilots, getting into a low-drag configuration as quickly as possible to provide at least the possibility of flying out of an engine failure. A great many pilots are now also climbing out at a shallower pitch attitude, allowing airspeed to build as soon as possible in case an engine quits at this most inopportune time. Airspeed = control, and control [as perhaps seen in the case of this Baron] is far more important to survival than quickly gaining altitude.
Even in airplanes like the Baron the landing gear won’t retract quickly enough to remove the drag and fly out of the engine failure; except at extremely light weights and low density altitudes “accelerate-go” really doesn’t exist as an option in light piston twins. I teach this “line-up litany” for recitation when taking the runway for departure:
· If the gear is down, I’m going down
· If the gear is up, three degrees up
“Going down” means lowering the nose as both throttles are brought quickly to idle, basically the VMC recovery maneuver we learn when earning the multiengine rating. “Three degrees up” is the approximate pitch attitude needed for “blue line” airspeed in a Baron with a propeller still windmilling, unless heavily loaded and/or at a high density altitude. Perhaps a shallow, three-degree attitude is appropriate for initial climb unless obstacles are a hazard, so the airplane is already at the correct attitude for “blue line” in the unlikely event an engine quits just after gear retraction. Try this a few times when taking off from a long runway to see if it’s a procedure that works for you.)
NEW NTSB PRELIMINARY or FACTUAL REPORTS: All previously reported in the Weekly Accident Update, and subject to change per NTSB findings.
**4/3 triple-fatality A35 crash on takeoff at Americus, Georgia. The Bonanza was “approximately 100 feet above ground level” when witnesses say "the airplane began to make a left bank. The airplane continued until the wings were almost perpendicular to the ground, lost altitude and crashed adjacent to the parallel taxiway.” The engine appears to have been running until impact, the right flap is confirmed to have been fully retracted, the forward cabin door was closed (door open in flight is a common contributor to accidents-by-distraction), and there is no mention of control gust locks or other contributors to similar mishaps in the past. A six-knot wind was from 20 degrees to the left of runway heading.**
SUMMARY: Reported Hawker Beechcraft piston mishaps, year-to-date 2008:
Total reported: 70 reports
Operation in VMC: 47 reports (67%)
Operation in IMC: 2 reports (3%)
Weather “unknown” or “not reported”: 21 reports
Operation at night: 9 reports (13%)
Surface wind > 15 knots: 8 reports (11%)
Fatal accidents: 9 reports (13%)
“Serious” injury accidents (not involving fatalities): 1 report
“Substantial” damage: 25 reports (36%)
Aircraft “destroyed”: 8 reports (11%)
Recent registration (within previous 12 months): 14 reports (20%)
(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 11 reports
Be33 Debonair/Bonanza 10 reports
Be36 Bonanza 9 reports
Be76 Duchess 7 reports
Be58 Baron 7 reports
Be23 Musketeer/Sundowner 5 reports
Be55 Baron 5 reports
Be24 Sierra 4 reports
Be95 Travel Air 3 reports
Be18 Twin Beech 2 reports
Be50 Twin Bonanza 2 reports
Be19 Sport 1 report
Be45 (T-34) Mentor 1 report
Be60 Duke 1 report
Be65 Queen Air 1 report
Be77 Skipper 1 report
PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION OF CAUSE (all subject to update per NTSB findings):
LANDING GEAR-RELATED MISHAPS (33 reports; 47% of the total)
Gear up landing
12 reports (Be18; two Be24s; four Be33s; Be35; Be36; Be50; Be58; Be76)
Gear collapse (landing)
9 reports (two Be35s; Be36; Be50; Be55; Be58; Be60; two Be95s)
Gear up landing—known mechanical system failure
4 reports (Be33; Be35; Be45; Be76)
Failure of nose gear to extend due to mechanical failure
2 reports (Be65, Be76)
Gear collapse—pilot activation of gear on ground
2 reports (Be33; Be35)
Gear collapse on landing—known mechanical system failure
1 report (Be55)
Gear collapse on landing: electrical failure/incomplete manual extension
1 report (Be45)
Gear collapse during taxi
1 report (Be58)
Gear collapse (takeoff)
1 report (Be18)
...for more on Landing Gear-Related Mishaps see these data and this commentary.
IMPACT ON LANDING (14 reports; 20% of the total)
Hard landing
3 reports (two Be23s; Be35)
Loss of directional control on landing
3 reports (Be19; Be23; Be77)
Loss of control on landing—strong, gusty winds
2 reports (Be23; Be58)
Wing strike on landing
1 report (Be58)
Hard landing—strong, gusty wind
1 report (Be36)
Impact with animal while landing
1 report (Be76)
Landed long
1 report (Be33)
Impact with obstacle on landing
1 report (Be35)
Loss of control--attempted go-around in strong/gusty winds
1 report (Be55)
ENGINE FAILURE (9 reports; 13% of the total)
Engine failure in flight
4 reports (Be35; three Be36s)
Partial power loss: fuel line leak
1 report (Be36)
Propeller overspeed
1 report (Be36)
Engine failure on takeoff
1 report (Be33)
Engine failure—fuel system malfunction
1 report (Be36)
Piston/cylinder failure in flight
1 report (Be35)
MISCELLANEOUS CAUSES (5 reports; 9% of the total)
Taxied into obstruction
2 reports (Be76; Be95)
Pilot incapacitation—heart attack
1 report (Be58)
Bird strike on landing
1 report (Be33)
Gear door damage—ice accumulation
1 report (Be33)
CAUSE UNKNOWN (4 reports; 5% of the total)
Crash/Unknown
2 reports (Be24; Be35)
Approach/Unknown
1 report (Be36)
Takeoff/Unknown
1 report (Be35)
LOSS OF CONTROL IN FLIGHT (3 reports; 4% of the total)
Loss of control—single engine visual approach
3 reports (Be55; Be58)
IMPACT WITH OBJECT DURING TAKEOFF (2 reports)
Loss of directional control during takeoff
1 report (Be76)
Loss of control on takeoff/initial climb
1 report (Be55)
IN-FLIGHT CONTROL VIBRATION/ FLUTTER/ AIRFRAME SEPARATION (1 report)
In-flight break-up—probable pilot incapacitation
1 report (Be35)
STALL/SPIN (1 report)
Stall--attempted go-around in strong/gusty winds
1 report (Be23)
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, M.S. Aviation Safety, Master CFI
2008 FAA Central Region CFI of the Year
Mastery Flight Training, Inc.
mastery.flight.training@cox.net
There's much more aviation safety information at www.thomaspturner.net.