5/22 2100Z (1600 local Monday afternoon): A Be77 “experienced engine issues shortly after takeoff” at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The Beech Skipper pilot “attempted to return to the airport and made an emergency landing in a field.” Both persons aboard escaped injury and airplane damage is “minor”. N3707G (WA-184) is a 1980 Model 77 registered in Sheridan, Arkansas.
(“Engine failure immediately after takeoff”–sounds like a good job of putting the airplane down in a field).
6/8 2137Z (1737 local Thursday evening): A Be33 landed at Salisbury, Maryland, and its nose gear collapsed. The pilot, alone in the aircraft, was not hurt. Airplane damage is “minor”. N562LF (CD-73) is a 1960 35-33 registered in Corrales, New Mexico.
(Gear collapse during landing”–remember that “minor” damage under NTSB 830 definitions does not include damage to engines, propellers and most to the gear and gear doors. The most common outcome of such a mishap is an airplane being totaled by the insurance company. Hopefully that’s not the case here.)
6/10 1429Z (1029 local Saturday morning): A Be35 fatally crashed “under known circumstances” at Orangeburg, South Carolina. The Bonanza has “unknown” damage. N8725A (D-2364) was a 1950 B35 registered in Charleston, South Carolina.
(“Engine failure in flight”; “Fatal”; “Aircraft destroyed”–the Aviation Safety Network reports:
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is conducting the investigation, the aircraft crashed in a field 11 miles north of Orangeburg Municipal Airport after the pilot declared an emergency and reported engine failure. The Federal Aviation Administration “says the plane was flying from the Lowcountry Regional Airport in Walterboro, S.C. and headed to the Jim Hamilton-L.B. Owens Airport in Columbia, S.C.” After crashing, the plane caught fire and the pilot who was the only occupant died from injuries and the aircraft was destroyed.)
6/10 2040Z (1340 local Saturday afternoon): A Be35’s gear collapsed during arrival at Ashland, Oregon. The solo pilot was unhurt and airplane damage is “minor”. N4579V (D-1221) is a 1947 Model 35 registered in Jacksonville, Oregon.
(“Gear collapse during landing”)
6/13 2010Z (1610 local Tuesday evening): A Be60 “rolled off the end of the runway while landing” at Louisville, Kentucky, “causing the tires to deflate.” The two aboard escaped injury and airplane damage is “unknown”. N1873W (P-231) is a 1973 A60 Duke registered in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
(“Landed long/runway overrun”)
New NTSB reports this week
Events previously reported in the Weekly Accident Update
5/18 C33A electrical fire in flight, at Indianola, Mississippi. The NTSB preliminary report states:
The pilot stated that he had flown the airplane more than 6 hours in the week before the accident. On the day of the accident flight, an engine runup was completed with no anomalies noted. After departure, the pilot smelled “burning plastic” and observed smoke from the engine compartment. He turned the airplane back toward IDL and was on the base leg of the traffic pattern when he observed a softball sized flame on the right side of the engine. He turned off the electrical system and adjusted the mixture control to cut off the fuel. The pilot landed on the runway as the cabin filled with smoke. After the airplane came to rest and the pilot egressed, the fire consumed a majority of the fuselage before it was extinguished. He added that the flames were visible on the right side near the battery box. The pilot recorded a video of the airplane on the runway after he egressed. [The report includes] a still image from the video that shows dark smoke in the cabin and heat discoloration below the front right windscreen, near the battery box.
After the accident, the responding Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage and stated he removed the end cap from the starter and the internal components did not reveal any anomalies. All of the electrical wiring in the cabin area was burned down to bare copper wire. Also, he found no compromised fuel lines on the engine side of the firewall. He identified one melted fuel line on the cockpit side of the firewall, which would have been behind the pilot’s side of the instrument panel. Portions of the fuel line had melted around an adjacent avionics wire, which exhibited damage to the outer shielding.
Change “Engine fire in flight” to “Electrical fire in flight.”
This concludes the Piston Beechcraft Accidents 6/8/2022 – 6/14/2023.