Date:	Friday 14 August 2009
Time:	19:10
Type:	Beechcraft 99 Airliner
Owner/operator:	Skydive Portugal
Registration:	F-BTME
MSN:	U-79
Year of manufacture:	1969
Total airframe hrs:	22993 hours
Cycles:	17449 flights
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-20
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Bairro de Almeirim, Évora -   Portugal
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Parachuting
Departure airport:	Évora Airport (LPEV)
Destination airport:	Évora Airport (LPEV)
Investigating agency:	GPIAA
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Beechcraft 99 turboprop aircraft, registered F-BTME, was destroyed when it crashed in a residential area of Évora, Portugal.
The airplane was used for parachute jumping flights. On the day of the accident the flights started at eleven o’clock in the morning. The duration of each flight was about 15/20 minutes. At 18.47 the aircraft took-off for the last flight, carrying 12 equipped parachutists. The intention was to climb to 13 000 feet (AMSL), where parachute jumping would be started.
When passing about 9500 feet the left engine (#1) flamed out and the respective propeller was automatically feathered. The pilot stopped the climb at around 10500 feet and informed the parachutists that one engine had stopped and they should jump while he would proceed for landing with one engine inoperative.
Eleven parachutists jumped, in sequence. One returned to the cockpit and remained on board with the pilot. The pilot started descending for landing on runway 01 at Évora aerodrome (LPEV). He contacted the tower on left base leg for runway 01, but said nothing about the inoperative engine or any assistance required. He was told to report on final, which he never did.
He continued the approach for runway 01, with landing gear down and flaps at initial setting (13°), but keeping high speed. The aircraft made a low pass, over the entire runway length, without the wheels touching the ground. After passing runway end it continued flying, the pilot increased power on right engine (#2) and the aircraft started deviating to the left, with wings level and without showing significant climb tendency. The airplane overflew a nearby residential quarter, with a significant bank, until it hit a roof and crashed on the street, upside down, being engulfed in flames immediately.

Investigation later revealed that the pilot was only qualified to fly single engine aircraft. Also, he had recently started a company, Avioarte Serviços Aéreos, after purchasing the aircraft in France. The company had no Air Operator Certificate (or Air Work Operator Certificate) and was not registered with Portuguese Civil Aviation Authority (INAC).

PRIMARY CAUSE:
Primary cause for this accident was pilot inability, as he was not qualified to fly this class of aircraft, to carry a single engine landing or maintain directional control during go-around with one engine inoperative.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS:
The following were considered as Contributory factors:
1. The pilot was not qualified to operate multi-engine aircrafts and had no knowledge and training to fly this kind of aircraft;
2. Unsuitable fuel monitoring and omission on manufacturer recommended procedures accomplishment;
3. Inadequate flying technique, without consideration to the airplane special flying characteristics;
4. Inadequate supervision, by the competent authorities, on flying activities carried by pilots and aircrafts with foreign licenses and registrations, inside Portuguese territory.

Évora: dois mortos confirmados em queda de avioneta (Diario Noticias, 15-8-2009)

photo (c) Václav Kudela; Praha-Ruzyne International Airport (PRG/LKPR); 28 April 2005

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