6/30 1205Z (0805 local Friday morning): A Be36 landed gear up at Star, North Carolina. The lone pilot escaped injury despite “substantial” airplane damage. N6724V (E-2095) is a 1983 A36 registered in Newark, Delaware.
(“Gear up landing”; “Substantial damage”)
6/30 1602Z (1202 local Friday noon): A Be35 “experienced electrical issues and landed gear up” at Cincinnati, Ohio. The solo pilot was not hurt; airplane damage is “unknown”. N102JM (D-10216) is a 1979 V35B registered in Cincinnati.
(“Gear up landing following electrical failure”–did the pilot no know how to manually extend the gear? Was this not a true gear up landing, but a partial extension, in a situation I described in a recent edition of FLYING LESSONS Weekly?)
7/7 1229Z (0729 local Friday morning): A Be36 “crashed under unknown circumstances” at Rayville, Louisiana. The pilot and passenger died; airplane damage is “unknown”. N15RP (E-539) was a 1974 A36 registered in Oak Ridge, Louisiana.
(“Crash/unknown”; “Fatal”; “Airplane destroyed”–the always authoritative Aviation Safety Network reports the Bonanza was destroyed in the crash).
7/8 1930Z (1230 local Saturday afternoon): A Be35 “crashed into the Pacific Ocean on landing” at Shelter Cove, California. The two aboard suffered “minor” injuries and the airplane was “destroyed” by immersion in salt water. N9520Y (D-7016) was a 1962 P35 registered in Kalispell, Montana.
(“Ditched into ocean during attempted landing”; “Airplane. destroyed”)
7/13 1536Z (1036 local Thursday morning): A Be36 “landed and the nose gear collapsed” at Rogers, Arkansas. The pilot, alone in the aircraft, was not hurt. Airplane damage is “minor”. N1830F (E-1905) is a 1981 A36 registered in Bentonville, Arkansas.
(“Gear collapse during landing”)
7/15 0440Z (2140 local Friday evening 7/14/23): A Be35 “blew a tire on rollout and [its] left wing struck the runway, at Visalia, California. The solo pilot was unhurt and airplane damage is “unknown”. N706B (D-1171) is a 1949 A35 registered in Weldon, California.
(“Blown tire during landing”)
7/16 2150Z (1650 local Sunday afternoon): A Be36 “landed gear up” at Taylor, Texas. The solo pilot was unhurt; airplane damage is “unknown”. N3821J (E-1810) is a 1981 A36 registered in Cedar Park, Texas.
(“Inadvertent gear retraction during a touch and go”–the pilot’s statement as related by a witness and FLYING LESSONS reader. Many, many things must happen in a short time to perform a successful touch-and-go in a Bonanza. Flaps, trim, power, and more. There’s a good reason more credible instructors and training providers recommend against touch-and-goes in retractable gear airplanes.)
New NTSB reports this week
6/1 V35A-TC loss of control at Statesboro, Georgia. From the report:
A Beech V35A, N8074R, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at the Statesboro County Airport (TBR), Statesboro, Georgia. The pilot received minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
According to the pilot, he was testing the function of the newly installed servos for the Garmin GFC-500 Autopilot and calibrating the fuel flow sensor. During the preflight inspection, the pilot moved the yoke and checked the movements of all control surfaces. He programmed the GFC- 500 flight director and set a cruising altitude of 3,000 ft, with a pitch climb between 5 and 7°. During the subsequent takeoff roll, the pilot noticed the controls felt “slightly heavy” and began adjusting the ruddervator trim nose up using the electric trim switch to lighten the controls. Once the airplane began climbing, the pilot engaged the GFC-500 Autopilot and continued the ascent. The autopilot successfully climbed and maintained the selected altitude of 3,000 ft. Throughout the flight, the pilot selected heading change commands and monitored the engine while looking for any anomalies on the GFC-500 flight display.
After 1 hour of flight, the pilot programmed the autopilot to descend to 2,000 ft in preparation for the approach to TBR; however, during the approach, when the pilot entered a waypoint, the autopilot did not turn to intercept. As a result, the pilot disconnected the autopilot and took over manual control of the airplane. As he approached the airport, the pilot noticed that the airplane was descending lower than intended. He applied engine power, but the nose of the airplane suddenly pitched down dramatically. The pilot double-checked to ensure the autopilot was disconnected, which was confirmed. Despite the pilot’s attempts to move the yoke aft, he was unable to do so. As the airplane continued to descend, he struggled to control the airplane and was “fighting” the unresponsive yoke. When the airplane was on the final approach leg of the airport traffic pattern, he realized it would land short of the runway. The airplane was approximately 1,000 ft from the runway threshold when it struck a light pole and subsequently collided with the ground before coming to rest.
The airplane was recovered for further examination.
(Change “Takeoff/Unknown” to “Loss of control during new autopilot testing”)
6/4 A36 engine failure during descent at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
6/10 B35 fatal engine failure in flight at Orangeburg, South Carolina. From the report:
The airplane departed about 0958, and flew generally northbound climbing to an altitude of about 5,500 ft mean sea level (msl), before gradually descending. The airplane’s ground speed averaged between 115 to130 knots until about 1018, when the ground speed dropped abruptly to less than 70 knots. The airplane continued to descend until track data was lost at approximately 1021 about 8 nautical miles north of Orangeburg Municipal Airport (OGB), Orangeburg, South Carolina.
According to preliminary air traffic control (ATC) communications provided by the FAA, the pilot reported that the airplane was experiencing an engine problem and the pilot was advised that OGB was the closest airport for a diversion.
Examination of the accident site and wreckage revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in a steep nose down attitude based on the impact signatures to the propeller spinner and the wing leading edges. The outboard leading edges were compressed aft toward the main spar.
The cockpit section of the fuselage sustained significant thermal damage. The cabin, cockpit, instrument panel, wing carry-thru structure and cockpit controls were consumed by fire.
This concludes the Piston Beechcraft Accidents 6/30/2022 – 7/19/2023.