The airplane had climbed to an altitude of about 11,000 feet mean sea level (msl) with 12 parachutists
seated inside the airplane on two rear-facing “straddle benches.” The airplane was flying at an indicated
speed of 100 mph with the flaps retracted. The operator’s written guidance for “skydiving jump runs”
indicated that the airspeed should be maintained at 110 to 120 mph and that the flaps should be set at 30
degrees. As the airplane arrived at the planned drop location, the parachutists stood up, opened the door,
and moved farther aft in the airplane to prepare for their jump. Five of the parachutists were positioned
aft of the straddle benches and were hanging onto the outside of the airplane, several of the other
parachutists were standing in the door, and the remainder of the parachutists were standing in the cabin
forward of the door. According to instructions on the operator’s skydiver briefing card, no more than
four jumpers should be allowed to occupy the door area during exit. Several parachutists heard the
sounds of the airplane’s stall warning system, and the airplane then suddenly rolled and began to
descend. All 12 parachutists quickly exited the airplane. Several witnesses reported seeing the airplane
turning and descending in an inverted nose-down attitude and then appear to briefly recover, but it then
entered a nearly vertical dive, which is consistent with a loss of control event as a result of an
aerodynamic stall and subsequent entry into a spin.
Category: Beech 18
During takeoff roll, the airplane’s right landing gear tire blew. The left wing raised up and the airplane drifted right. The pilot shut down the power. The pilot then stated that the right wheel caught the raised grass area on the edge of the runway. The airplane’s tail swung to the right and the right landing gear collapsed.
Shortly after takeoff, both engines lost power. The pilot said he selected different fuel tanks, but could not restart the engines. He subsequently made a wheels-up forced landing in a field below his flight path. The pilot stated that he had performed a preflight inspection and that there was 4.1 gals in both the front left and right main fuel tanks. Examination of the airplane after the accident revealed a combined total of about 5 gals in the forward left and right tanks.
The beech e18s ground looped during the takeoff ground run. The pilot stated that before lift off the airplane encountered a ‘dust devil.’
After returning from a sport parachuting flt, the plt landed on rwy 3 with a 5-kt, right x-wind. He stated that the touchdown was normal, but when the tailwheel came down at aprx 40 kts, the acft started to turn to the left. He corrected with right rudder & brake, then the acft veered to the right. He then tried to correct back to the left, but the acft continued off the right side & came to rest in a ravine. After the accident, the plt reported a right brake malfunction. However, when he submitted an accident report, he indicated there was no mechanical failure or malfunction.
While in flt on a parachute jumping mission, a fire erupted in the right eng area & a precautionary landing was made. An exam revealed that the float fulcrum screw, pn 13773, on the stromberg carburetor had backed out & allowed fuel to escape into the exhaust area. Reportedly, the screw had not been safety wired.
Prior to flt the spark plugs on both engs were replaced due to minor eng vibration & the landing gear retract system wiring repaired due to the gear not retracting electrically on a prior occasion. After takeoff the gear would not retract electrically & the passenger had to crank up the gear manually. After the parachute jump the plt shut down the left eng to isolate the vibration. He then started the left eng & feathered the right eng. Unable to unfeather the righteng he elected to land with full flaps & gear down after a straight-in approach. As he approached the threshold a c-150 taxied onto the rwy. The plt executed a go-around while trying to retract the flaps & gear electrically without results.The pax was attempting to retract the gear manually when the acft struck a tree. The plt stated he did not make his landing intentions known on unicom during the approach. No pre-impact descrepancies were found to preclude normal prop operation. Normal elect power is halved with one generation inoperative.