The pilot reported that he departed for a parachute jump flight with 12 gallons of fuel onboard. He added
that, after the parachute jumpers exited the airplane about 10,500 ft mean sea level (msl), he initiated a
left spiraling descent back to the airport. He further added that he “heard and felt the engine start [to]
quiet down as if it was shutting down.” He then began to make right descending turns and verified that
the fuel selector was in the “both” position. He added that the cylinder head temperature was decreasing,
so he switched back to left descending turns and that the “fuel starvation due to banking happened two
more times.”
Category: CA
The pilot of the twin-engine, turbine-powered airplane reported that, while providing flights for
skydivers throughout the day, he had a potential new hire pilot flying with him in the right seat. He
added that, on the eighth flight of the day, the new pilot was flying during the approach and
“approximately 200′ [ft.] south from the threshold of [runway] 15 at approximately 15 feet AGL [above
ground level] the bottom violently and unexpectedly dropped out. [He] believe[d] some kind of wind
shear caused the aircraft [to] slam onto [the] runway and bounce into the air at a 45 to 60-degree bank
angle to the right.” The prospective pilot then said, “you got it.” The pilot took control of the airplane
and initiated a go-around by increasing power, which aggravated the “off runway heading.” The right
wing contacted the ground, the airplane exited the runway to the right and impacted a fuel truck, and the
right wing separated from the airplane. The impact caused the pilot to unintentionally add max power,
and the airplane, with only the left engine functioning, ground looped to the right, coming to rest nose
down.
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.
The commercial pilot reported that, after takeoff on the local skydiving flight, the engine experienced a
total loss of power. He initiated a turn toward the airport, but realized the airplane would not reach the
runway and chose to perform a forced landing to an open field. During the landing roll, the airplane
exited the field, crossed a road, impacted a truck, and continued into a vineyard, where it nosed over.
The pilot said that, while on short final, the airplane experienced a sudden sink rate when the
wind changed from a head wind to calm conditions. He was unable to arrest the sink rate even
after power was applied because of the lag time for the airplane’s turbine engine to spool up.
The airplane landed hard short of the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane
revealed that the left side of the fuselage was dented and wrinkled, and the left main landing
gear was bent inboard of the axle and was missing its brake assembly.
The pilot stated that he departed the airport for the 15-minute skydiving flight with about 20
gallons of fuel onboard. After completing a jump run, he was returning to the airport and
maneuvered the airplane on final approach. When the airplane was about 3 miles from the
runway and about 1,200 feet above ground level, the engine experienced a partial loss of
power. The pilot configured the airplane for the best glide speed, and, shortly thereafter, the
engine quit producing any power. The airplane subsequently collided with trees in an orchard
about 600 yards from the approach end of the runway.
A skydiver jumped up and out of the airplane instead of dropping out of the exit and keeping a low trajectory. He then impacted the horizontal stabilizer and fell away from the leading edge. The skydiver’s automatic deployment system activated and opened the parachute.
The pilot made a hard landing collapsing the nose gear and damaging the firewall. The pilot took off and turned to downwind for landing. He reported that he flew an uneventful and normal approach. He said that he touched down on the main landing gear, but the nose gear folded under the airplane as it touched down.
After the parachutists jumped, the airplane was descending through 9,000 feet msl, and the engine lost partial power. The pilot verified that carburetor heat was on, the cowl flaps were closed, the fuel selector was positioned to “Both,” and the mixture was rich. She continued descending and entered a left traffic pattern for the runway. The pilot initially judged her pattern distance based on the available engine power.
After discharging three parachutists into a drop zone from about 12,000 feet mean sea level, the pilot attempted to return to the departure airport. The engine began surging as the airplane descended through 8,000 feet. The pilot continued the descent and entered the departure airport’s traffic pattern. He misjudged his distance from the runway, and when all engine power was lost turning onto the final approach leg he was unable to glide to the runway.