Beechcraft 58 — Hiawatha, KS

What happened

The pilot was on a cross-country flight in a twin-engine airplane.  A witness, located at the destination airport, reported that the accident airplane approached the airport from the south and then headed northeast, as if to enter the airport traffic pattern. He added that the airplane appeared to climb and then started a left turn.  After starting the turn, the airplane flipped inverted, the nose dropped, and the airplane disappeared from view behind terrain.

Examination of the wreckage site, located about 1 mile northeast of the airport, revealed that the airplane had impacted terrain on its bottom fuselage, and came to rest upright. A post-crash fire consumed a majority of the cabin and the inboard sections of the wings. The wreckage was confined to one area and all major components were accounted for on site.

Though the examination was limited by thermal and impact damage, no pre-impact abnormalities were observed during the airframe or engines examinations that would have precluded normal operations.

A review of the pilot's autopsy and medical history did not identify any evidence of an incapacitating event. The airplane's roll to an inverted attitude is consistent with an inflight loss of control event. The ground scars and damage to the airplane are consistent with a probable attempted recovery from the loss of control; however, the reason for the loss of control could not be determined based on the available information.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.