Saturday, August 05, 2017

Beech A36 Bonanza, N776WM: Accident occurred December 12, 2016 in New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Florida

Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

NTSB Identification: ERA17CA068
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, December 12, 2016 in New Smyrna Beach, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 08/22/2017
Aircraft: BEECH A36, registration: N776WM
Injuries: 1 Minor.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

Passengers reported that, during a winter flight, cold air was entering the airplane from the left side of the passenger cabin. Afterward, the pilot examined the area and discovered that there was a small gap under the emergency exit window that was allowing air to enter the cabin from outside the airplane. He opened the window and examined the rubber seal, which was intact. However, he could not tell if it was compressed or thinner than normal. He then closed and latched the window and inspected the latch with a flashlight to make sure it was latched. Because he was going to fly back to his home airport in similar winter conditions on the next flight, he took several rolled-up paper towels and placed them between the trim and the window to try and keep the cold air out and placed a strip of blue painter’s tape on the outside of the lower portion of the window to further reduce the entry of cold air. He decided to fly the airplane once around the traffic pattern before fueling up for his return flight. After takeoff and while on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern at 800 ft, he suddenly heard a "whoosh" behind his seat. Instead of landing and checking to see what happened, he checked for other traffic, turned on the autopilot, in heading and altitude mode, then reached around behind him to shut and latch the window, which had opened 2 to 3 inches. Seconds later, after turning back around to his normal seated position, he heard a loud "pop" and turned around and saw that the window had opened completely. Given that he was afraid it would come off the airplane and strike the tail, he reached back again and pulled the window down. The pilot reported that he must have "bumped" the autopilot off while he was doing this, because when he looked forward to check for traffic, he noticed that the airplane was approaching the ground. He then banked left and right to determine his location and spot any obstacles, raised the nose, and added power to climb. He then noticed that there were power lines slightly higher than his altitude directly in front of him, and rather than risk a possible stall close to the ground by pulling back suddenly, he lowered the nose and "put" the airplane on the ground. The airplane then struck trees, and a fire ensued, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. Examination of the emergency exit window by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the paper towels the pilot inserted in the gap between the window and the airframe were interfering with the window's latching mechanism.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's inappropriate response to an emergency exit window opening in flight, which resulted in a loss of control, precautionary off-airport landing, and subsequent impact with trees. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper repair of the emergency exit window before the flight.




Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Orlando, Florida

Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms 

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

http://registry.faa.gov/N776WM 









NTSB Identification: ERA17CA068
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, December 12, 2016 in New Smyrna Beach, FL
Aircraft: BEECH A36, registration: N776WM
Injuries: 1 Minor.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

During a winter flight, passengers reported that cold air was entering the airplane from the left side of the passenger cabin. Afterwards, the pilot examined the area and discovered that there was a small gap under the emergency exit window that was allowing air to enter the cabin from outside the airplane. He opened the window and examined the rubber seal which was intact. He could not tell though, if it was compressed or thinner than normal. He then closed and latched the window and inspected the latch with a flashlight to make sure it was latched. Since he was going to fly back to his home airport in similar winter conditions on the next flight, He took several rolled-up paper towels and placed them between the trim and the window to try and keep the cold air out, and placed a strip of blue painters tape on the outside of the lower portion of the window to further reduce the entry of cold air. Since it was a beautiful day, he decided to fly the airplane once around the traffic pattern before fueling up for his return flight. After takeoff while on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern at 800 feet, he suddenly heard a "whoosh" behind his seat. Instead of landing, and then checking to see what happened, he instead checked for other traffic, turned on the autopilot, in heading and altitude mode, then reached around behind him to shut and latch the window which had opened 2 to 3 inches. Moments later, after turning back around to his normal seated position, he then heard a loud "pop" and turned around to find that the window had now opened completely. Since he was afraid it would come off the airplane and strike the tail, he reached back once again and pulled the window back down. The pilot advised that he must have "bumped" the autopilot off while he was doing this, since when he looked forward to check for traffic, he noticed that the airplane was approaching the ground. He then banked left and right to determine his location and spot any obstacles, raised the nose, and added power to climb. He then noticed that there were powerlines slightly higher than his altitude directly in front of him, and rather than risk a possible stall close to the ground by pulling back suddenly, he lowered the nose and "put" the airplane on the ground. At this point the airplane was approaching the edge of a field bordered by trees, so he pointed the nose of the airplane between trees. The airplane then struck the trees, and a fire ensued, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe. Examination of the emergency exit window by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the paper towels the pilot inserted in the gap between the window and the airframe were interfering with the window's latching mechanism.

Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

NTSB Identification: ERA17CA068
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, December 12, 2016 in New Smyrna Beach, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 08/22/2017
Aircraft: BEECH A36, registration: N776WM
Injuries: 1 Minor.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

Passengers reported that, during a winter flight, cold air was entering the airplane from the left side of the passenger cabin. Afterward, the pilot examined the area and discovered that there was a small gap under the emergency exit window that was allowing air to enter the cabin from outside the airplane. He opened the window and examined the rubber seal, which was intact. However, he could not tell if it was compressed or thinner than normal. He then closed and latched the window and inspected the latch with a flashlight to make sure it was latched. Because he was going to fly back to his home airport in similar winter conditions on the next flight, he took several rolled-up paper towels and placed them between the trim and the window to try and keep the cold air out and placed a strip of blue painter’s tape on the outside of the lower portion of the window to further reduce the entry of cold air. He decided to fly the airplane once around the traffic pattern before fueling up for his return flight. After takeoff and while on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern at 800 ft, he suddenly heard a "whoosh" behind his seat. Instead of landing and checking to see what happened, he checked for other traffic, turned on the autopilot, in heading and altitude mode, then reached around behind him to shut and latch the window, which had opened 2 to 3 inches. Seconds later, after turning back around to his normal seated position, he heard a loud "pop" and turned around and saw that the window had opened completely. Given that he was afraid it would come off the airplane and strike the tail, he reached back again and pulled the window down. The pilot reported that he must have "bumped" the autopilot off while he was doing this, because when he looked forward to check for traffic, he noticed that the airplane was approaching the ground. He then banked left and right to determine his location and spot any obstacles, raised the nose, and added power to climb. He then noticed that there were power lines slightly higher than his altitude directly in front of him, and rather than risk a possible stall close to the ground by pulling back suddenly, he lowered the nose and "put" the airplane on the ground. The airplane then struck trees, and a fire ensued, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. Examination of the emergency exit window by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the paper towels the pilot inserted in the gap between the window and the airframe were interfering with the window's latching mechanism.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's inappropriate response to an emergency exit window opening in flight, which resulted in a loss of control, precautionary off-airport landing, and subsequent impact with trees. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper repair of the emergency exit window before the flight.

Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Orlando, Florida

Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms 

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

http://registry.faa.gov/N776WM 

NTSB Identification: ERA17CA068
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, December 12, 2016 in New Smyrna Beach, FL
Aircraft: BEECH A36, registration: N776WM
Injuries: 1 Minor.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.


During a winter flight, passengers reported that cold air was entering the airplane from the left side of the passenger cabin. Afterwards, the pilot examined the area and discovered that there was a small gap under the emergency exit window that was allowing air to enter the cabin from outside the airplane. He opened the window and examined the rubber seal which was intact. He could not tell though, if it was compressed or thinner than normal. He then closed and latched the window and inspected the latch with a flashlight to make sure it was latched. Since he was going to fly back to his home airport in similar winter conditions on the next flight, He took several rolled-up paper towels and placed them between the trim and the window to try and keep the cold air out, and placed a strip of blue painters tape on the outside of the lower portion of the window to further reduce the entry of cold air. Since it was a beautiful day, he decided to fly the airplane once around the traffic pattern before fueling up for his return flight. After takeoff while on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern at 800 feet, he suddenly heard a "whoosh" behind his seat. Instead of landing, and then checking to see what happened, he instead checked for other traffic, turned on the autopilot, in heading and altitude mode, then reached around behind him to shut and latch the window which had opened 2 to 3 inches. Moments later, after turning back around to his normal seated position, he then heard a loud "pop" and turned around to find that the window had now opened completely. Since he was afraid it would come off the airplane and strike the tail, he reached back once again and pulled the window back down. The pilot advised that he must have "bumped" the autopilot off while he was doing this, since when he looked forward to check for traffic, he noticed that the airplane was approaching the ground. He then banked left and right to determine his location and spot any obstacles, raised the nose, and added power to climb. He then noticed that there were powerlines slightly higher than his altitude directly in front of him, and rather than risk a possible stall close to the ground by pulling back suddenly, he lowered the nose and "put" the airplane on the ground. At this point the airplane was approaching the edge of a field bordered by trees, so he pointed the nose of the airplane between trees. The airplane then struck the trees, and a fire ensued, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe. Examination of the emergency exit window by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the paper towels the pilot inserted in the gap between the window and the airframe were interfering with the window's latching mechanism.




























AIRCRAFT: 1983 Beech A36 Bonanza N776WM, s/n: E-2088

Last annual inspection was accomplished on 02/17/16 at Tach 1650.6, Hobbs 1092.5 and AFTT 3320.9.  The current Hobbs reads 1104.6
                                                              
ENGINE:    Continental IO-550-B, s/n: 675060

Overhauled on 11/25/1996 at ETT 1590.1 and AFTT 1670.33

PROPELLER:   Hartzell PHC-C3YF-1RF/F8068, s/n: EE5585B

The log records a 100 hour inspection on 02/17/16 at 851.3 TSMOH

EQUIPMENT:   Garmin GNS 530, Garmin GTX330, King KY196, King KN53, PS Engineering PMA8000BT, EDM JPI
           
DESCRIPTION OF ACCIDENT:   On 12/12/16, N776WM crash landing in a field

DESCRIPTION OF DAMAGES:    Damage includes but may not be limited to the following:    
                                                              
The aircraft was substantially damaged due to the impact and subsequent fire. 

The engine and tail were completely separated from the fuselage. 

Aircraft sprayed by Fire Dept to extinguish the fire.
.
LOCATION OF AIRCRAFT:  Florida Air Recovery, Jacksonville, Florida

Read more here:   http://www.avclaims.com/N776WM.html





A Beech A36 Bonanza crashed Monday afternoon, causing a small brush fire near Venetian Bay in the New Smyrna Beach area, an official said. 


Emergency crews received the call about 3:30 p.m. regarding a plane crashing and a wing catching fire near Airport Road and Pioneer Trail, Volusia County sheriff's spokesman Andrew Gant said.

The pilot escaped with minor injuries to his face, Gant said.

The Beech A36 Bonanza is owned by Lee and Janet Kraus and registered out of Connecticut, records show. The Krauses own a home in nearby Spruce Creek Fly-In.

Officials have not said who was piloting the plane.

Several residents of Venetian Bay made their way to the intersection of Pioneer Trail and Luna Bella Lane to see what was going on in their neighborhood.

"We were sitting in the house and we saw a big truck go by and then (heard) a big boom," Mary Carrow said.

She said she thought the truck may have blown a tire, and it was unsettling to learn what had actually caused the loud noise.

"We always enjoy them," Carrow said of the planes, "but this is pretty scary."

Story,  video and photo gallery:  http://www.news-journalonline.com






VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A plane crash was reported Monday afternoon in the area of Airport Road and Pioneer Trail near the Venetian Bay subdivision, according to Volusia County fire officials.

A witness saw the plane go down on the side of the road near a wooded area.

The pilot apparently got out of the plane with just a cut on his nose, WESH 2 News has learned.

The crash started a brush fire that was quickly put out.

An investigation is underway.

Story and video:   http://www.wesh.com

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