On March 26, 2021, a Beech 35 was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Bridgeport, Texas. The airline transport pilot and flight instructor were seriously injured.
The pilot stated the purpose of the flight was to conduct his flight review.
He and the instructor landed and fueled the airplane. Sometime after takeoff, they practiced a simulated loss of engine power and returned to the airport. While approaching the runway with engine power at idle, the airplane encountered a strong downdraft, but the pilot did not recall what happened after that.
The instructor did not remember any of the accident flight.
The airplane came to rest upright in a residential yard. The wings exhibited tree impact marks and sustained ground impact damage. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, fuselage, and empennage.
One witness stated that the airplane was descending from the north and appeared to be slow. It pulled up right before it hit the trees, then “flipped” and hit the ground upright.
Another witness observed the airplane traveling at low altitude over a highway near the airport. He stated that the airplane’s nose was up in the air and the tail barely cleared the power lines along the road. After crossing the road, the nose pitched up and the airplane banked to the right. The right wing hit trees and the airplane descended out of sight. The witness stated that he could not hear the airplane as it passed over him on the road and did not recall if the propeller was turning.
Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that the airplane departed and entered a left traffic pattern for Runway 18. On the downwind leg abeam the runway threshold, the airplane began to descend. While on short final, about 30 feet above ground level (agl), the airplane veered slightly left and began to climb. The final ADS-B point was recorded at 50 feet agl, and about 130 feet laterally from the accident site.
One witness stated that, just before the accident he checked the weather, and the wind was reported from the east about 15 mph. He added that the wind was gusting when he was outside at the accident site.
The airport manager told the FAA that the wind gusts were 20 to 22 knots about the time of the accident.
The surface observations just before the accident included wind from the south at 12 knots gusting to 17 knots, which resulted in an approximate 11-knot headwind and a 5-knot crosswind for runway 18.
The weather conditions depicted no frontal or other boundaries to cause any large-scale wind shifts and the radar mosaics indicated no convective wind shear conditions over the region at the time of the accident. A weather model depicted southerly wind and a dry conditional unstable atmosphere which supported thermals through approximately 5,000 feet, with likely associated turbulence and downdrafts.
There was an active AIRMET Tango for occasional moderate turbulence over the area which included the accident site. A pilot report of light turbulence at low levels was likely due to thermals.
Probable Cause: The pilots’ failure to maintain adequate airspeed during a simulated power-off approach in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, an aerodynamic stall, and loss of control.
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This March 2021 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Looking at the flight track, he flew a poor pattern, never got to pattern altitude,[ 300 ft below, and a mile abeam .]
Then flew a mile past the approach end before descending and turning base.
He turned final at 350 agl and a mile out.!!
Heck, my Cessna wouldn’t make it to the runway from there in a glide.!!
There didn’t appear to be any gust affects, with the flight path fairly constant until he hit the ground, 1/4 mile from the runway.
Why didn’t he add power and go around ?
So, both injured and a destroyed aircraft.
Thanks JimH, I didn’t get a chance to pull that up.
From personal experience: I have witnessed the wind socks at an airport, from the departure end, start dropping (no wind) coming back toward the approach end. The wind had been fairly constant a bit above 10kts. If you are on short final in that case, going to full power before the closest wind sock drops, you may still not avoid a firm landing. It is like a small micro-burst, your airspeed drops, your sink rate immediately increases. BTDT.
Could a brief lull in the wind like the above caught these two pilots by surprise?
Guess hours and extensive recurrent training don’t necessarily eliminate accidents.
Basic rule: don’t let a practice emergency turn into a real one.
Oops! Let’s try that again and get it right this time.
Fact!