Sunday, October 23, 2022

Beechcraft A24R Sierra 200, N8020R: Fatal accident occurred October 21, 2022 in Keene, Cheshire County, New Hampshire

Monadnock Aviation Inc


Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation may contact them by email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov. You can also call the NTSB Response Operations Center at 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290.




The two men killed when the small plane they were in crashed into an apartment building in Keene on Friday were both pilot rated, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration had previously said a Beechcraft A24R Sierra 200 aircraft crashed into a building north of Keene Dillant-Hopkins Airport in Keene just before 7 p.m. Friday. City officials said no one was injured in the building hit by the plane.

On Sunday, Tim Monville, a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the aircraft took off from Runway 2, located roughly a half mile from the crash site, and communications indicate the pilot intended to remain in a traffic pattern, but did not specify his exact intentions.

“That was recorded audio. One of the occupants (of the plane) said that,” said Monville. “When I say around the pattern, you're basically flying a circuit around the runway, to either do an approach or do a landing. I don’t know what their intention was, so I can't expand upon that.”

There were no communications mentioning problems with the plane, Monville said.

Officials have not released the names of the victims to the public.

It is still not clear how or why the plane crashed.

Bystanders’ photos and videos posted online show a small apartment building engulfed in flames after the crash.

Monville said investigators have video from two different cameras in the area that captured the crash and the ensuing fireball.

People were home when the plane crashed into the building, Keene Fire Department Chief Donald Farquhar said, but no one in the building was hurt.

The fire spread quickly from the crash, and it took firefighters almost two hours to bring the fire under control.

Monville said the Keene fire department’s ladder truck was “instrumental” in helping to recover wreckage from the site.

“There was an extensive post-crash fire,” said Monville. “The cockpit and both wings were nearly consumed.”

It’s possible smaller pieces of wreckage may remain commingled in the debris. If so, they will be recovered during the demolition process, Monville said.

The wreckage will be secured at a nearby facility where investigators will attempt to reconstruct the airplane and look at the engine systems, Monville said.

Investigators also plan to look at the maintenance records of the airplane, and interviews are scheduled for Monday with maintenance personnel.

Investigators are also awaiting the autopsy and toxicology results on the victims, Monville said.

“We require autopsies and toxicology on both, and that’s routine in any accident,” said Monville. “It’s not that we suspect anything. We don’t, It’s just routine.”

The plane was owned by Monadnock Aviation, said Keene Mayor George Hansel.

Monadnock Aviation offers charter flights, and training for people who want to get recreational pilot’s licenses.

A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration expected the plane’s identification number would be made public Monday.

24 comments:

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ZIlBoK-Ic

    https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8020R

    ReplyDelete
  2. On the camera footage, the engine sounded strong right up to impact.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Listen again, engine sound ends before impact long enough to see two strobe flashes light up the ground in that quiet time before impact sound is heard.

      Delete
    2. I would agree with Anonymous #1, sounds fine up until impact. The plane partially enters the building upon impact at 00:04, strobes flash 2X (actually 4 separate flashes due to tail and right wing not sequenced 100%, two distinct flash/shadow patterns on the ground due to two separate locations of the sources of light) at 00:05 and 00:07. Fuel leak ignition at 00:07:30, with wreckage falling and building collapsing at 00:08 to 00:14.

      Delete
    3. “Listen again, engine sound ends before impact”….
      You need your hearing checked… The engine stopped at impact.

      Delete
  3. Engine sounds rough and then quit before impact. Like Dan G said, they knew they were in trouble but not many options in the dark and heading towards downtown Keene.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the engine sounded normal. What may have sounded as a roughness was most likely echoing caught by the camera between the camera and the apartment building. Anyone who has spent time around hangars knows this phenomenon.

      Delete
  4. It looks like the plane that went down was N43337

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. According to the FAA Aircraft Registry, N43337 is a Piper Warrior PA-28-150, not a Beechcraft Sierra A24-R 200. Has the NTSB announced the aircraft’s tail number?

      Delete
    2. I looked up the 3 planes registered to Monadnock Aviation... N43337 was on a 5 mile final (from Live ATC) and flight aware has the path of the plane stop over the crash sight about the same time as the reported accident.They also looked low and slow on final based on flight aware

      Delete
    3. N8020R no longer shows up on the Monadnock Aviation website (if it was there prior to this crash).

      Delete
  5. If you pay close attention, you hear the engine quit followed immediately by sounds of impact, then see tree branches fall adjacent to the building. More sounds of impact follow, with a fire following that. This plane was too low and impacted trees before hitting the building.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The lighting light luminating the surface got my attention. The angle and light cone seem to show a significate nose down pitch. A level pitch would have not have such a sharp definition.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The engine quit when the airplane hit the power lines (first bang/pop with flash), then the plane flew/fell silently from there to the final impact.

    ReplyDelete
  8. impact @ 42°54'46.7"N 72°16'03.6"W, 3000ft directly beyond rwy 2/20, 6201 x 100 ft.. 2nd rwy 14/32, 4000ft. Per airnav, all rwys call for left a traffic pattern @ KEEN. If their intent was to remain in the pattern, pic would have initiated a left departure for downwind, unless he was dealing with an issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “Dealing with an issue” could be something as simple as the altitude not high enough to initiate a crosswind turn, due to spatial disorientation and the illusion of climbing when the airplane is only accelerating horizontally.

      Delete
    2. AIRPORTS REQUESTED: KEEN
      KEEN 211856Z AUTO 23011KT 10SM CLR 16/M03 A3009 RMK AO2 SLP197 T01561028
      numerous lighted ground visuals for two experienced aviators to have experienced spatial disorientation in clear skies and 10sm.

      Delete
    3. It much more likely the engine wasn't developing full power and they didn't realize it until it was too late to put the airplane back down inside the airport fence.

      Delete
  9. The occupants were identified as Lawrence Marchiony, 41 years old, of Baldwinville, MA and Marvin David Dezendorf, 60 years old, of Townshend, VT.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beech Sierra's are a rare and neat airplane, great visibility and roomy but don't glide real well..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Correct. They don't glide well. Or climb well. I fly one.

      Delete
  11. Think Jimmy’s World sold a Sierra to airline pilot who vohjd not get plane to take off on hit day at Sandy grass runway so Jimmy flew plane to paved runway where airline pilot took off but returned saying something wrong with engine because plane would not climb properly so Jimmy refunded money. Think Jimmy found prop not turning full RPM and had prop repaired after finding some gunk in prop Governor .

    ReplyDelete
  12. Don’t rely on flashes for timing. Sound and light travel at different rates. He had power at time of impact, no question about it.

    ReplyDelete