History of Flight
On March 18, 2010, at 1154 eastern daylight time, a Beech B95, registration N9389Y, was substantially damaged after impacting the ground near Sky Acres Airport (44N), Lagrange, New York. The certificated commercial pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which departed from 44N with an intended destination of Sullivan County International Airport (MSV), Monticello, New York. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
Multiple eyewitnesses observed the accident. One witness, a pilot who had just landed, reported that the airplane climbed to about 50 feet above ground level (agl), yawed left, returned to straight flight, climbed to approximately 300 feet agl, yawed left a second time, and banked left. The nose then pitched down to nearly perpendicular relative to the terrain, performed one to one-and-a-half spin rotations, and disappeared behind a tree line. The witness subsequently saw a plume of smoke.
Airport security video showed that the self-service fuel pump was not used by the accident pilot on the day of the accident. The last known refuel date and amount could not be determined. Three radar returns were observed near the accident site at 900 feet mean sea level (about 300 feet agl) around the time of the accident.
Personnel Information
According to FAA records, the pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane multiengine land and private pilot privileges for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on April 2, 2009. The pilot's logbook showed his most recent recorded flight was on September 6, 2009, with a total of 1,027.1 flight hours. The exact amount of experience in the accident make and model could not be determined, but since April 2002 he had recorded 231 total hours in make and model, with 13.2 hours in the preceding 12 months, all in the accident airplane. His most recent flight review was conducted on March 22, 2009.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was a 1960 Beech B95 Travel Air equipped with two Lycoming O-360-A1A engines and two Hartzell two-bladed metal propellers. It was a five-place, high-performance, all-metal, low-wing, multiengine monoplane with fully retractable tricycle landing gear. An annual inspection was performed on April 1, 2009, at which time the aircraft total time in service was 3,934.9 hours.
Meteorological Information
The 1153 recorded weather observation at Dutchess County Airport (POU), about 8 miles southwest of the accident site, included calm wind, clear skies, 10 miles visibility, temperature 16°C, dew point -1°C, and an altimeter setting of 29.80 inches of mercury.
Airport Information
Sky Acres Airport is a privately owned airport with a single asphalt runway oriented 17/35, 3,830 feet long and 60 feet wide. No air traffic control tower was present. Communication was via the common traffic advisory frequency, which was not recorded. Two security cameras oriented toward the self-service fuel pumps captured the approximate middle third of the runway. The airplane was observed in the camera's field of view with no abnormalities.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The wreckage was located in a powerline right-of-way along a paved road, about 2,100 feet from the departure end of runway 35. The airplane impacted immediately adjacent to the road, coming to rest upright 13 feet from the tree line and 90 feet from overhead powerlines on a heading of 309 degrees. A broken tree limb about 2 inches in diameter was found at about 30 feet agl.
The cabin and inboard section of the right wing from the root to about the engine nacelle were consumed by post-impact fire. The left wing root sustained thermal damage, and first responders reported the wing tip exploding. The tail section exhibited crush damage along the vertical axis on the underside. The leading edges of the vertical and horizontal stabilizers showed thermal damage but no impact damage. The left main and nose landing gears were down; the right main gear position could not be confirmed due to fire damage. All flight instruments were consumed.
Control continuity was confirmed from the aft bulkhead to the rudder and elevator, though the elevator control system was binding near the tailcone attach point due to impact damage. Aileron continuity was confirmed from the left wing to the area where the pilot control column would have attached, but post-impact fire damage prevented confirmation at the attachment point. The left wing aileron trim actuator measurement was consistent with a neutral trim position. The tail cone and aft navigation light were found 23 feet aft of the main wreckage.
Right Engine: The right engine exhibited extensive fire damage. One propeller blade remained attached; the other was found 3 feet aft of the propeller attach point. Continuity was confirmed from the propeller to the rear accessory gear drive, and all cylinders produced suction and compression. The magnetos were thermally damaged and produced no spark. The carburetor was destroyed. The wet vacuum pump would not rotate by hand; disassembly revealed all components present but the source of binding could not be determined. The oil filter had no metallic particulates. The engine-driven fuel pump was mostly consumed by fire.
Left Engine: The left engine contained oil throughout. Both propeller blades remained attached; one was undamaged, the other bent aft at mid-span and curled about 270 degrees with spanwise scoring. Spark plugs were normal and gray. The carburetor was attached with slight impact damage and contained about 1 tablespoon of blue fluid consistent with 100LL aviation fuel; no water was present. The left wing fuel strainer was dry. The electrical fuel pump contained about 3 tablespoons of 100LL fuel; actuation by hand produced suction at the inlet. Disassembly showed no damage to diaphragms or check valves. Fuel hoses were unobstructed. The magnetos produced spark on all towers. The wet vacuum pump was intact. The engine rotated with continuity and produced suction and compression in all cylinders.
Overall, examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction.
Medical and Pathological Information
The Office of the Medical Examiner of Dutchess County performed an autopsy; the cause of death was multiple blunt impact trauma. Forensic toxicology testing detected no carbon monoxide, cyanide, ethanol, or drugs of abuse.
Additional Information
Both fuel selector valves were located in the wreckage and examined at the NTSB Materials Laboratory. Both valves had sustained severe thermal damage; visual examination using the illustrated parts manual indicated both valves were set to the main tanks.
The Airplane Flying Handbook describes that accelerated maneuver stalls may occur at higher-than-normal airspeeds and lower pitch attitudes, potentially leading to a loss of flight control if recovery is not initiated promptly.