AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause on the NTSB’s website at www.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after the accident, although some take longer. Find out more about Aviation Safety at www.aviationsafetymagazine.com.
September 4, 2022, Galt, Calif.
Beech 58 Baron
The airplane was substantially damaged at about 0850 Pacific time when it reportedly collided with terrain in a flat spin. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction were fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed.
Multiple witnesses reported seeing the airplane spinning. One witness stated that “it was not nose down but more flat.” Another witness stated there was no engine noise. Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data show that, at about 0837 and with the airplane maintaining 4600 feet MSL, the airplane’s groundspeed began to slow from 168 knots to 87 knots. Groundspeed then increased to 149 knots. At about 0839, the airplane began to decelerate again. A minute later, while decelerating through 100 knots, the airplane began a left turn. The last ADS-B data points show it continuing to decelerate and descend in a left turn.
September 4, 2022, Freeland, Wash.
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
At 1509 Pacific time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted the water and sank. The pilot and nine passengers were fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed for the scheduled FAR Part 135 flight.
Tracking data show the airplane flying a southerly heading before turning south-southeast, while maintaining between 650 and 975 feet MSL with a groundspeed between 115 and 125 knots. At 1508:43, altitude increased to 1125 feet as groundspeed slowed to 109 knots. At 1508:49, altitude was 875 feet and the groundspeed 100 knots. The tracking data ended at 1508:51, at an altitude of 700 feet and groundspeed of 55 knots.
Witnesses reported the airplane was in level flight before it entered a slight climb and then pitched down into a near-vertical descent. Several witnesses described the airplane as “spinning,” “rotating” or “spiraling” during the steep descent. One witness reported hearing engine/propeller noise. The airplane continued to descend until it impacted water in Mutiny Bay.
According to the NTSB, the airplane’s most recent 100-hour inspection was performed on September 1, 2022. Inspections required by airworthiness directives on the control column lower assembly and elevator control tabs were performed. The previous 100- hour inspection was performed on August 16, 2022; work included the recurring AD inspections noted above and replacing the horizontal stabilizer hinge bolts.
September 5, 2022, Tupelo, Mississippi
Beech 36 Bonanza
The pilot was performing touch-and-go landings. On approach, he heard a horn but thought it was the stall warning because it went off when he increased manifold pressure. But then he heard sheet metal grinding on concrete as the airplane settled.
He applied full power and the airplane lifted off the runway. He then extended the landing gear, but the airplane’s left wing dropped, and the airplane impacted the ground, sustaining substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. The pilot later reported there were no pre-accident mechanical problems with the landing gear system or the rest of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
September 7, 2022, Mesa, AZ
Cessna 750 Citation X
At about 1453 Mountain time, the airplane was substantially damaged during a runway excursion on landing after losing its primary hydraulic system. The pilot and first officer were not injured. Visual conditions prevailed.
The pilot reported that the landing gear would not retract after departing Tucson, Arizona, and decided to divert to Mesa. Soon afterward, he noticed that hydraulic system “A” lost fluid and pressure. The pilots completed the appropriate hydraulic system failure emergency checklist.
The subsequent touchdown was smooth, at VREF speed, and the pilot began using the emergency braking immediately. Several hundred feet after touchdown, the left main landing gear tires blew, and the airplane veered off the runway. The right main landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the airplane came to rest in the runway safety area. Examination revealed the nose landing gear centering hydraulic line was frayed near its upper fitting.
September 8, 2022, Santa Monica, Calif.
Czech Sport Aircraft Piper Sport
The airplane was destroyed at about 1626 Pacific time when its pilot lost control on landing. The flight instructor and student pilot were fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed.
The flight was an introductory flight lesson for the prospective student pilot. Multiple witnesses observed the airplane land on Runway 21, with one describing the landing as “hard.” The witnesses observed the airplane aggressively pitch up and climb, while the engine made a sound consistent with it going to full power. It continued climbing in a nose-up attitude before leveling off at the climb’s apex, and then spinning to the left, descending and colliding with the ground.
This article originally appeared in the December 2022 issue of Aviation Safety magazine.
For more great content like this, subscribe to Aviation Safety!
“On approach, he heard a horn but thought it was the stall warning because it went off when he increased manifold pressure.”
Granted, I have never flewn a Banana, but I am pretty sure the stall warning system is not tied to the throttle…
SV…quite possibly the pilot mistakenly thought that when they added powe the airspeed increased above the stall warning threshold, therefore failing to realize it was a gear warning horn..either way, a go-around might have been the prudent response..
Was flying ANY retractable aircraft and didn’t know there was a gear warning horn when the throttle was regarded and the gear up? Wow, check his logbook, who signed off his complex aircraft checkout.