The commercial pilot reported that, after dropping off skydivers, he made a rapid spiraling descent back
to the airport. The pilot added that, because the wind had changed such that it resulted in a tailwind, he
initiated a go-around during the landing approach; however, when he advanced the throttle, the engine
initially surged and then lost power. The pilot made a forced landing in a corn field near the end of the
runway.
Category: IL
The commercial pilot was conducting a local skydiving flight with four skydivers. After the airplane
climbed to 3,800 ft, one of the skydivers deployed, and at 11,000 ft, the remaining three skydivers
deployed. The pilot stated that the procedure for deploying skydivers was to input 10° of flaps before the
skydivers’ deployment. After the last skydiver exited the airplane, the pilot closed the door and started to
retract the flaps from 10° to 0°. The pilot heard a “metallic” snap, and the airplane went into a spin. The
pilot recovered the airplane from the spin about 7,000 ft. He discovered that the right flap was partially
deployed about 5° down and appeared to be crooked in its track. In addition, he noted a vibration from
the right flap with restricted aileron control. The pilot stated that lateral control was difficult to maintain.
After a radio conference with a mechanic and about 30 minutes of trying to control the airplane, the pilot
chose to bail out of the airplane; he maneuvered the airplane over unpopulated farmland, shut down the
engine, and parachuted. The pilot watched the airplane circle after his parachute deployed. The pilot
landed and did not sustain injuries; the airplane impacted terrain and sustained substantial damage.
The pilot was on final approach when the engine started to run out of fuel. She said her boss
had a similar problem on a previous flight, and had to correct for it by pitching the nose up and
down to force fuel into the fuel lines. The pilot recalled pitching the nose up and down but
nothing after that. A witness, who saw the airplane pitching up and down several times before
it impacted the ground, responded to the crash. He noted that the fuel selector was set to the
"both" position and no fuel was leaking from either fuel tank’s gas cap. When the
airplane was righted, the witness said he saw several gallons of fuel drain from the left tank but
not the right tank. When he visually checked the right fuel tank, it was empty. The left tank had
about 9 gallons (about 6.5 gallons usable) still in the tank. A postaccident examination of the
airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed the airplane sustained
substantial damage to the firewall, forward engine mounts, right wing and vertical stabilizer
and rudder. About 6 gallons of fuel was drained from the left wing tank and the right tank was
empty. A review of the terrain where the airplane impacted the ground revealed the vegetation
around the left tank was discolored from fuel, but the area around the right tank was not. No
pre mishap mechanical discrepancies were noted with the engine or airplane that would have
precluded normal operation.
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.
The Beech King Air had undergone maintenance that included a landing gear disassembly and inspection in preparation for the airplane’s sale. Following the landing gear inspection, the left main landing gear strut was overfilled to an extension that exceeded maintenance specifications due to the strut not being able to maintain the manufacturer’s specified pressure/extension.
The helicopter impacted unmarked power transmission lines as the pilot maneuvered at a low altitude over a river. The helicopter impacted the river and separated into several pieces. The pilot and his passengers were not injured and were rescued by nearby boaters.
The airplane entered an inverted spin during a skydiving operation when a parachutist’s parachute deployed while exiting the airplane at 10,500 feet mean sea level. The parachute became entangled around the right hand landing gear and the parachutist could not be freed. The pilot, who was wearing a parachute, and the remaining parachutists jumped from the airplane.
The airplane landed downwind, approximately halfway down the runway, overran the end of the runway and nosed over. The pilot reported that while en route he monitored a nearby automated weather observing system (AWOS) and the winds were “230 [degrees true] at 3 knots.” The pilot stated, “I decided I would use either end of [the] runway since [the] wind was calm.”
The helicopter’s main rotor blade contacted a photographer fatally injuring him. Before lift off, ground crew informed the pilot that there were four canopies in the vicinity of the takeoff area. The pilot immediately took off and began following a mowed grass area adjacent to an area of corn in which the photographer was standing in and unseen by the pilot.
The airplane nosed over in a cornfield during a forced landing after a total loss of engine power. The pilot reported he released the parachutists at 10,100 feet msl over the drop zone and started the descent to the south due to better cloud clearances and to keep clear of company traffic. He reported that he applied carburetor heat before descending.
After landing at night and stopping on the ramp, a passenger was seriously injured after walking into the propeller blade after exiting the aircraft.