ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 156132
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| Date: | Tuesday 28 May 2013 |
| Time: | 11:43 |
| Type: |  Beechcraft A36 Bonanza |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N999PK |
| MSN: | E-3380 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2001 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 893 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental IO-550 SERIES |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Mountainaire, AZ -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Flagstaff, AZ (FLG) |
| Bryce Canyon, UT (BCE) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot had purchased the Beechcraft airplane about 18 months before the accident and based it at his home airport, which was located at an elevation of about 80 ft mean sea level (msl). The pilot flew the Beechcraft to an airport that was at an elevation of about 7,100 ft msl. A few days after his arrival, he returned to the airport for his planned departure and spent about 15 minutes asking the fixed base operator owner, who was also a pilot, multiple questions about the route to his next planned destination. According to the owner, he was surprised by the nature of the pilot’s questions, his lack of basic aeronautical information knowledge for area restrictions, and his lack of formal planning for his flight.
No witnesses reported anything unusual about the engine start or taxi. At the time the pilot was cleared by the air traffic control tower controller for takeoff, the airport density altitude was about 9,000 ft. No ground witnesses reported observing anything unusual with the takeoff, but a Cessna 172 pilot who was behind the Beechcraft reported that the Beechcraft’s climbout was slow. Shortly after his own takeoff, about 75 seconds after the Beechcraft, the Cessna pilot asked the tower controller about the Beechcraft’s situation and intentions because the Cessna was already well above the Beechcraft. This prompted the controller to ask the Beechcraft pilot if he needed assistance, and the pilot responded that he was climbing “very slowly” and would remain near the airport. Shortly after that, the Cessna pilot saw the Beechcraft impact trees. The accident site was about 3 miles southeast of the airport at an elevation about 300 ft below that of the departure airport. A postimpact fire obscured or destroyed a significant amount of evidence.
Review of the Beechcraft’s published performance data revealed that, for the given conditions, the airplane should have been able to successfully depart the airport and climb at a rate of about 500 feet per minute.
Most of the engine components and all of the propeller components that survived the accident, displayed no evidence of preimpact mechanical deficiencies. The engine cylinder conditions were indicative of a history of generally lean operation. In addition, the No. 5 cylinder exhaust valve’s appearance was consistent with excessively lean operation for an undetermined period of time, and the fuel injector nozzle for that cylinder was found to be partially occluded. Excessively lean operation will reduce engine power output, and will manifest itself as abnormally high exhaust and cylinder head temperatures and possible engine roughness. Further, if the No. 5 cylinder’s injector was occluded for the flight, it would have resulted in overly lean operation of and reduced power output from that cylinder, yielded higher exhaust and cylinder head temperatures, and likely manifested itself as engine roughness. (Some witnesses close to the impact site reported that the engine was making “popping” noises.) Although the airplane was equipped to monitor, display, and record temperatures for each cylinder, it could not be determined whether the pilot monitored that display, and fire damage prevented the recovery of that data from the engine monitor. Further, there was insufficient evidence to determine the source of the injector’s occlusion, quantify its effects on engine power output, determine its relation to the condition of the exhaust valve, or determine if it was present for the takeoff or an artifact of the postimpact fire.
Although the engine was developing power at impact, there was insufficient evidence to quantify the actual power output for the climb or at the time of impact. There was also insufficient evidence to determine whether the pilot ensured that the throttle and propeller controls were set to and remained in their appropriate positions for the departure or whether the pilot adjusted the mixture properly (not overly lean).
It is likely that the pilot lifted off prematurely at a speed lower than the prescribed value and was unable to accelerate or cli
Probable Cause: The pilot's inability to maintain a climb after departure in high-density altitude conditions, which resulted in a collision with trees and terrain. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's decision not to track the four-lane highway just beyond the departure runway, which he could have used as an alternate landing site; his premature rotation of the airplane; and degraded engine performance that affected the airplane's climb ability.
Accident investigation:
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|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-May-2013 22:21 | Geno | Added |
| 29-May-2013 16:46 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-May-2013 20:05 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 28-Feb-2017 07:41 | PiperOnslaught | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Nov-2017 14:40 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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