Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB ERA10FA178
BEECH 95 — Lagrange, NY
| Date | March 18, 2010 |
| Location | Lagrange, NY |
| Aircraft | BEECH 95 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 54 |
| Pilot total time | 1,027 hrs · Experienced |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
A witness, who was a pilot, reported that he observed the airplane climb to approximately 50 feet above ground level (agl), yaw to the left, return to straight flight, climb to approximately 300 feet agl, yaw to the left a second time, and then bank to the left. The nose of the airplane then pitched down to about a perpendicular position with reference to the surrounding terrain, completing 1 to 1 1/2 spin rotations before going out of sight behind a row of trees. A postaccident examination of the airplane established continuity from all control surfaces to the cockpit. Examination of both engines revealed thermal damage; however, all cylinders produced suction and no abnormal mechanical anomalies or signatures were noted.