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| Date: | Thursday 7 December 2017 |
| Time: | 21:00 |
| Type: |  Beechcraft 58 Baron |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N4494A |
| MSN: | TH-30 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1970 |
| Engine model: | Continental IO 520 SERIES |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Saint Croix-Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX/TISX) -
 U.S. Virgin Islands
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Saint Croix-Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX/TISX) |
| Saint Thomas-Cyril E. King Airport (STT/TIST) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Before departing on the night cross-country flight in the multi-engine airplane with four passengers, the private pilot, who did not hold a multi-engine rating, called a flight instructor/mechanic, because he was having problems starting the left engine. The flight instructor/mechanic advised the pilot to wait until the next day; however, the pilot chose to depart. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot advised air traffic control that the engines were "not running right" and that he needed to return to the airport. The airplane was cleared to land, but impacted terrain about 500 ft short of the runway threshold and was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The disposition of the wreckage suggested a steep descent and impact attitude with little horizontal motion, consistent with a loss of control.
Examination of the left engine found that the No. 2 cylinder piston exhibited severe detonation damage, which likely resulted in the subsequent catastrophic failure of the left engine; however, the reason for the detonation could not be determined. While the pilot lacked a multiengine rating, the investigation was unable to determine his prior multiengine flight experience.
Probable Cause: The non-multiengine rated pilot's failure to maintain airplane control during a single-engine approach. Contributing to the accident was a total loss of engine power on the left engine due to detonation for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
https://fr.flightaware.com/resources/registration/N4494A
Location
Images:
Media:
5 dead in plane crash @ St Croix airport | Virgin Islands News Online https://t.co/kjfHtLr2n8 pic.twitter.com/8N7gEmkjs4
— Planes Of Legend (@PlanesOfLegend) 8 décembre 2017
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Dec-2017 05:48 | Geno | Added |
| 08-Dec-2017 09:53 | whiteshark | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 08-Dec-2017 10:55 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 08-Dec-2017 17:47 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 08-Dec-2017 21:24 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 09-Dec-2017 03:30 | Geno | Updated [Destination airport, Source, ] |
| 09-Dec-2017 08:25 | Anon. | Updated [Registration, ] |
| 09-Dec-2017 08:26 | Anon. | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Destination airport, ] |
| 09-Dec-2017 12:40 | Captain Adam | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 10-Dec-2017 16:57 | Anon. | Updated [Source, ] |
| 15-Jul-2019 18:07 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 01-May-2022 00:41 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
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