General Aviation Accident Bulletin, August 28, 2023

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.

At about 1135 Mountain daylight time, the airplane was destroyed when it impacted terrain after an apparent in-flight icing encounter. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. Instrument conditions prevailed; an IFR flight plan had been filed.

While en route, and about six minutes after being cleared from 12,000 feet msl to 13,000, the pilot reported “mild” ice. About 17 minutes after reporting icing, the airplane began a rapid descent. On ATC’s third contact attempt, the pilot indicated they “had a problem” before the airplane’s data block disappeared. According to ADS-B data, the airplane was proceeding along the V4 airway when it turned about 45 degrees off-course to the right and began to descend. A minute later, it entered a continuous right turn with an increased descent rate until the end of recorded data.

The airplane was destroyed at about 0018 Eastern time when it failed to stop on a wet runway and slid down a series of embankments before coming to rest. The commercial pilot and the five passengers were not injured. Night visual conditions prevailed; an IFR flight plan had been filed.

The pilot later stated he delayed their departure for the 194-nm flight to let rainstorms pass through the destination area. He then flew the RNAV (GPS) RWY 24 approach in calm winds at a V_REF of 120 knots, touching down with full flaps. He later reported “...the brakes immediately began to pulsate in anti-skid mode and because of that, very little braking effort was being done to slow the plane despite full pedal pressure.” He described the anti-skid system as having a slower on/off cycle than he had previously experienced on wet runways. As he considered going around, the left brake “grabbed” and the airplane yawed left, beginning a series of left/right skids, which continued until it departed the runway onto the grass. After coming to a stop about 360 feet from the departure end of the runway, the airplane caught fire. All six occupants were able to egress through the main cabin door.

At about 0900 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it caught fire in flight and was intentionally landed gear-up. The solo pilot was not injured.

After takeoff, the pilot smelled “burning plastic” and observed smoke coming from the engine compartment. He turned back and was on the base leg for landing when he observed a softball-sized flame on the right side of the engine. He turned off the electrical system and pulled the mixture control to idle cut-off, landing as the cabin filled with smoke. After the airplane came to rest and the pilot egressed, fire consumed most of the fuselage.

The airplane was destroyed at about 1447 Eastern time when it failed to gain altitude during a soft-field takeoff and drifted into trees. The solo private pilot was fatally injured.

According to a pilot-rated witness and recorded video, the airplane’s takeoff roll was in a nose-high attitude, with the tail dragging in the turf. The airplane lifted off nose-high, the wings buffeted and the airplane drifted left into trees. The engine was operating continuously. A postcrash fire consumed most of the wreckage.

At 1118 Eastern time, the airplane was destroyed when it rolled into a right turn shortly after liftoff and collided with terrain. The flight instructor and student pilot were fatally injured.

The airplane took off and began to climb. Then, it descended and began to climb again. It then rolled right into an approximate 90-degree-bank descending turn until it impacted the ground. Examination revealed the aileron cable routed through the left door post had separated. The aileron control pulleys in both left and right door posts were corroded and did not move freely.

This article originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of Aviation Safety magazine.

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