The commercial pilot reported that, while setting up for a skydiving jump run, the airspeed was a little
slow, and the airplane abruptly stalled, rolled left, and began rotating downward. A jumper, seated in the
copilot’s seat, stated that the pilot did not retard the throttles during the recovery attempt and that the
airplane’s airspeed increased rapidly. The jumper also reported that he heard a “loud bang” during the
recovery sequence. The pilot briefly recovered the airplane to a wings-level attitude, but it then
subsequently stalled and entered another spin. During the second spin event, all the jumpers successfully
egressed. After about nine rotations, the pilot recovered the airplane to a wings- and pitch-level attitude,
and shortly thereafter, it broke off to the left and stalled and rotated downward again. The pilot
recovered the airplane again and flew back to the airport because the airplane was handling abnormally,
and he landed it without further incident.
Beech King Air 90 Non-Fatal Byron, CA July 23, 2016
The commercial pilot reported that, while setting up for a skydiving jump run, the airspeed was a little
slow, and the airplane abruptly stalled, rolled left, and began rotating downward. A jumper, seated in the
copilot’s seat, stated that the pilot did not retard the throttles during the recovery attempt and that the
airplane’s airspeed increased rapidly. The jumper also reported that he heard a “loud bang” during the
recovery sequence. The pilot briefly recovered the airplane to a wings-level attitude, but it then
subsequently stalled and entered another spin. During the second spin event, all the jumpers successfully
egressed. After about nine rotations, the pilot recovered the airplane to a wings- and pitch-level attitude,
and shortly thereafter, it broke off to the left and stalled and rotated downward again. The pilot
recovered the airplane again and flew back to the airport because the airplane was handling abnormally,
and he landed it without further incident.