Low-Altitude Maneuvering · NTSB WPR09FA235
BEECH 95 — Minden, NV
| Date | May 9, 2009 |
| Location | Minden, NV |
| Aircraft | BEECH 95 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Maneuvering-low-alt flying Abrupt maneuver |
| Pilot age | 58 |
| Pilot total time | 4,700 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 5 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
What happened
Witnesses reported that the pilot had taken four friends that were attending an outdoor working group on a local flight. The airplane made two to three low passes over the working group. On the final pass, the airplane was slightly above the tops of the local houses, between 100 and 300 feet above ground level (agl). Recovered GPS data indicated that the airplane was traveling from northeast to southwest at 120 knots ground speed. The witnesses stated that the airplane then made a sudden steep climbing left turn that approached 90 degrees angle of bank, appeared to decelerate at the top of the climbing turn, then dropped towards the ground nose first to ground impact. The witnesses noted that the engines could be heard "running perfectly" throughout the maneuver. Post accident examination of the airplane established continuity from all control surfaces to the cockpit. Examination of both engines revealed no abnormal conditions or signatures.