History of the Incident
On August 17, 2011, a Beechcraft 200 registered N-134WJ was conducting a ferry flight from Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (LROP), Romania, to Düsseldorf, Germany (EDDL). After takeoff, while climbing from flight level 120 to flight level 220, at 10:40 UTC, the aircraft experienced a complete loss of electrical power on board. All avionics, including radio communication, became inoperative. The pilot chose to land under visual flight rules (VFR) conditions at the George Valentin Bibescu Aerodrome (LRPW), located near Strejnic commune, Prahova County, Romania. The landing was completed successfully.
Injuries and Damage
No person was injured, and no damage to the aircraft was recorded. No other damage was determined.
Aircraft and Crew Information
The aircraft was a Raytheon Beechcraft 200, registered in the United States as N-134WJ. The owner was Evergreen International Aviation Inc., and the operator was Evergreen Helicopters of Alaska Inc. (certificate EHAA531D). The flight was operated by a single pilot, a 64-year-old male holding an FAA ATPL, with 8,100 total flight hours, including 7,600 hours on turboprop aircraft and 1,100 hours on the Beechcraft type.
Meteorological Conditions and Communications
Meteorological conditions at the time were reported as CAVOK (ceiling and visibility okay). Following the loss of electrical power, all communications between the aircraft and air traffic services (ATS) were lost.
Analysis and Findings
The investigation conducted by the Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Center (CIAS) determined that the incident occurred primarily because the pilot did not observe in due time the generators' disconnection warnings. This was attributed to the pilot being overloaded with ATS communications due to a transponder malfunction. Additionally, the pilot stated that flying into the sun on that section of the flight may have contributed to not noticing the warnings. The aircraft was operated by a single pilot instead of a complete crew, which contributed to the overload. Ground tests after the incident could not identify any failure that would have caused the power loss, and all equipment appeared to operate properly when tested.
Probable Cause
The incident was determined by the loss of the on-board electric power supply co-related with pilot overload.
Safety Recommendation
The CIAS recommended that operators of aircraft designed to be operated by a cockpit crew analyze ferry flight operational requirements to avoid flights with incomplete crews.