The pilot of the Beechcraft B200 King Air that crashed into a building at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport in 2014 failed to follow emergency procedures including correct use of rudder, leading to loss of control, the NTSB said in its probable cause report released this month. The pilot, a retired air traffic controller, was killed along with three people in the FlightSafety International building, while six others were injured. During initial climbout, the pilot declared an emergency and said the King Air “lost the left engine.” About 120 feet above the ground, witnesses saw the aircraft, with its gear down, turn left and crash into the building. A fire then consumed most of the aircraft.
Investigators could not determine why the left engine lost power, but found that it was “likely producing low to moderate power and that the right engine was likely producing moderate to high power,” according to the report. Also, the 53-year-old pilot likely used “substantial” left rudder at the time of the crash and did not retract the landing gear or feather the propeller as outlined in emergency procedures for an engine failure. Surveillance cameras at the airport captured the last 9 seconds before the crash, showing the King Air turning left and in a nose-left sideslip as it passed over a hangar before crashing into the building.
