Piston Beechcraft Accidents End of Year 2015 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 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. 2015-2016 Mastery Flight Training, Inc. All Rights Reserved THE WEEKLY ACCIDENT UPDATE IS AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCT OF MASTERY FLIGHT TRAINING, INC. Update 2: 1/13/2016 New NTSB reports this week Events previously reported in the Weekly Accident Update 12/22 four serious injuries A36 loss of control during takeoff in foggy, night IMC. From the NTSB preliminary report: According to the pilot, after conducting his preflight he prepared for departure. He noted that a "haze" started to fill around the airport but was not concerned with weather related issues. He conducted a pre-takeoff run up and everything checked out "ok." He taxied to the runway and started the takeoff roll; as the airplane reached take off speed (around 85 knots) he rotated, got airborne and reached over to raise the landing gear. He said that it "seemed" like he had a loss of engine power and when he checked the instrument panel, he noticed that the attitude indicator was on a 10 to 15 degree left bank. He immediately leveled the wings and kept the yoke "back" to continue the climb. However the airplane impacted the ground and "bounced" before coming to a stop. No change to the originally posted factors involved in this crash. See www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20151223x81847&key=1 2015 SUMMARY: Reported Beechcraft piston mishaps, 2015: Total reported: 170 reports Environment: (Note: FAA preliminary reports no longer report weather conditions) Operation in VMC: 76 reports Operation in IMC: 16 reports Weather unknown or not reported : 76 reports Operation at night: 22 reports Surface wind > 15 knots: 1 report Most Serious Injury
Fatal accidents: 28 reports Serious injury accidents (not involving fatalities): 12 reports Aircraft damage Substantial damage: 30 reports Aircraft destroyed : 35 reports Other factors FAA's triennial registration rule means it is impossible to tell whether an airplane registration was because of a change in ownership or simply compliance with the new regulation. Consequently we will no longer track the number of mishaps that occur in the first year of registered ownership. Over 16 years of the Weekly Accident Update has shown that, consistently, about 20% of all piston Beechcraft accidents happen in the first year of ownership. 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 48 reports Be36 Bonanza 47 reports Be58 Baron 15 reports Be33 Bonanza/Debonair 13 reports Be23 Musketeer/Sundowner/Custom 11 reports Be55 Baron 11 reports Be24 Sierra 6 reports Be17 Staggerwing 4 reports Be45 (T-34) Mentor 3 reports Be95 Travel Air 3 reports Be18 Twin Beech 2 reports Be19 Sport 2 reports Be60 Duke 2 reports Be50 Twin Bonanza 1 report Be56 Turbo Baron 1 report Be65 Queen Air 1 report Be76 Duchess 1 report PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION OF CAUSE (all subject to update per official findings): Landing gear-related mishaps (68 reports; 40% of the total year-to-date)
Landing gear collapse during landing 35 reports (Be18; Be24; four Be33s; seven Be35s; nine Be36s; Be45; four Be55s; five Be58s; Be60; Be65; Be95) Gear up landing 25 reports (two Be24s; two Be33s; nine Be35s; three Be36s; two Be45s; three Be55s; two Be58s; Be76; Be95) Gear collapse during takeoff 3 reports (Be24; Be35; Be58) Gear up landing/electrical failure/failure to complete the manual extension procedure 1 report (Be36) Gear collapse during landing/electrical failure/failure to complete the manual extension procedure 1 report (Be95) Gear up landing/mechanical gear failure 1 report (Be17) Gear collapse during touch and go 1 report (Be36) Nose wheel separation in flight 1 report (Be55) Engine failure (34 reports; 20% of the total year-to-date) Engine failure in flight 15 reports (four Be23s; Be33; six Be35s; three Be36s) Engine failure immediately after takeoff 6 reports (Be23; Be33; two Be35s; two Be36s) Fuel exhaustion 3 reports (Be24; two Be36s) Cylinder bottom end failure/hole in crankcase 3 reports (Be35; two Be36s) Engine failure immediately after takeoff--catastrophic cylinder separation 1 report (Be35) Engine failure immediately after takeoff--catastrophic crankshaft failure 1 report (Be36)
Engine failure in flight/catastrophic oil loss 1 report (Be19) Partial power loss during takeoff/failure to abort 1 report (Be35) Engine failure during takeoff/failure to abort 1 report (Be36) Partial power loss in cruise with subsequent total engine failure 1 report (Be36) Engine failure during approach/landing 1 report (Be36) Engine failure in flight: Propeller overspeed 1 report (Be35) Impact during landing (21 reports; 13% of the total year-to-date) Loss of directional control during landing 10 reports (Be17; Be18; Be23; two Be33s; Be35; two Be36s; Be50; Be55) Landed short/impacted obstacles 3 reports (Be23; two Be35s) Landed long/runway overrun 3 reports (all Be58s) Hard landing 2 reports (both Be23s) Loss of directional control during landing/blown tire 1 report (Be58) Propeller strike during landing 1 report (Be35) Struck wing on the ground during landing 1 report (Be33) Miscellaneous (12 reports; 7% of the total year-to-date) Collision during taxi 4 reports (two Be17s; Be36; Be58) Bird strike 3 reports (Be23; two Be35s) Collision with a parked aircraft while taxiing 2 reports (Be33; Be36) Collision with wildlife during landing 1 report (Be36)
Cabin fire in flight 1 report (Be35) Continued Visual Flight Rules flight in IMC 1 report (Be36) Loss of Control in Flight (LOC-I) (12 reports; 7% of the total year-to-date) Stall/mush on takeoff 2 reports (both Be35s) Loss of Control during landing/door open in flight 2 reports (Be36; Be56) Stall immediately after takeoff/suspected weight and balance issues 1 report (Be35) Stall during missed approach in IMC 1 report (Be36) Stall/spin immediately after takeoff/uphill/short Field/Obstacles at end of runway 1 report (Be36) Loss of control/stall/spin from cruise flight 1 report (Be35) Stall/spin turning base to final 1 report (Be36) Loss of control in flight/during approach (probable partial panel) 1 report (Be36) Stall during takeoff/high density altitude/wind 1 report (Be35) Loss of Control in Flight/apparent trim runaway 1 report (Be36) Crash/Unknown (10 reports; 7% of the total year-to-date) Crash/unknown 4 reports (Be24; two Be35s; Be36) Approach/Unknown IMC 2 reports (Be33; Be55) Takeoff/Unknown 1 report (Be60) Forced landing/unknown 1 report (Be58) Crash/unknown: Night, mountainous terrain 1 report (Be36)
Crash/unknown--Flight in area of thunderstorms 1 report (Be55) Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) (7 reports; 4% of the total year-to-date) Controlled Flight into Terrain/Failed to attain climb/night IMC departure 2 reports (Be35; Be36) Controlled Flight into Terrain/Icing Conditions 1 report (Be36) CFIT/Attempted visual flight in IMC/mountainous terrain 1 report (Be35) Controlled Flight into Terrain/Cruise Flight/IFR in IMC 1 report (Be35) Controlled Flight into Terrain/Failed to attain climb/imc departure 1 report (Be36) Controlled Flight into Terrain/Night instrument approach 1 report (Be36) Impact during takeoff (5 reports; 3% of the total year-to-date) Loss of directional control/rejected takeoff 1 report (Be58) Loss of directional control/possible mechanical cause 1 report (Be23) Loss of directional control during takeoff 1 report (Be36) Impact with obstacles/terrain during takeoff 1 report (Be19) Runway overrun 1 report (Be36) Tail vibration/control flutter (1 report) Tail vibration/control flutter during high-speed descent 1 report (Be35) 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. Personal Aviation: Freedom. Choices. Responsibility.