History of Flight
On July 26, 2015, at about 1704 Pacific daylight time, a Beech F35, N988RH, was destroyed during a forced landing after a loss of engine power near Riverside Municipal Airport (RAL), Riverside, California. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight was operated by the pilot as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions were reported at the airport at the time, and no flight plan was filed. The local flight originated from Brackett Field Airport, La Verne, California, about 1619.
Air traffic control (ATC) audio recordings revealed that a Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (SoCal TRACON) controller was providing vectors for an instrument approach to Chino Municipal Airport. The controller issued a heading change to 350°, and shortly after, the pilot reported a loss of engine power and requested to land at RAL. The controller provided distance and direction to RAL, confirmed the pilot had the airport in sight, and cleared him to land. The controller relayed weather at RAL (wind 280° at 12 knots gusting 18 knots) and cleared the pilot to land on runway 27. The pilot then responded he was "not going to make it," and no further communications were received.
Personnel Information
The pilot, age 52, held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating, issued February 2, 2013. He was issued a first-class airman medical certificate on April 1, 2014, with the limitation that he "must have available glasses for near vision." According to his personal logbook, as of the most recent entry dated June 19, 2015, he had accumulated a total flight time of 443.9 hours.
Aircraft Information
The four-seat, low-wing, retractable-gear airplane, serial number D-4131, was manufactured in 1955. It was powered by a 225-horsepower Continental Motors E225-8 engine, serial number 30406-D-4-8, and equipped with a Hartzell model HC-A2V20-4A1, 2-bladed, constant-speed propeller, serial number AK1334.
Review of maintenance logbooks showed that the most recent annual and 100-hour inspections were completed on October 5, 2014, at a tachometer time of 609.40 hours and total time since major overhaul of 606.4 hours. The engine was overhauled on April 5, 1999, at a total engine time of 4,428.6 hours and installed on the airframe on May 12, 1999, at a tachometer time of 3 hours. The most recent maintenance performed on the engine was replacement of a carburetor valve door assembly, alternate air door spring, and induction filter on May 29, 2015, at a tachometer time of 729.9 hours.
The pilot operating handbook for the F35, section III, Emergency Procedures, page 3-6, specifies a maximum glide configuration: landing gear up, flaps up, cowl flaps closed, propeller low RPM, airspeed 105 knots (121 MPH), with a glide distance of approximately 1.7 nautical miles (2 statute miles) per 1,000 feet of altitude.
Meteorological Information
At 1653, the RAL automated weather observation station, located about 0.50 mile north of the accident site, reported wind from 290° at 12 knots, gusts to 19 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear sky, temperature 30°C, dew point 16°C, and an altimeter setting of 29.87 inches of Mercury.
Wreckage and Impact Information
Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane struck a power pole and power lines about 0.50 mile south of the approach end of runway 27. The first identified point of impact was a power pole with impact marks about 40 ft above ground level. Portions of the right flap and ruddervator were found near the pole. The right wing was located about 40 ft beyond the pole in a residential street. The main wreckage – fuselage, left wing, engine, and left ruddervator – was found about 89 ft from the pole. The debris path was oriented on a magnetic heading of about 045°.
Airframe examination revealed the right wing was separated outboard of the right main landing gear, with fire damage. The right main landing gear was extended. About 6 gallons of 100-low-lead fuel was drained from the right main fuel tank. The left wing remained attached but was fire-damaged; its fuel tanks were consumed by fire. The left main landing gear was extended. The flap actuator was in a position consistent with 20° flaps.
The fuselage came to rest inverted with extensive fire damage. Oil residue was observed on the aft fuselage. The instrument panel and radio panel were fire-damaged. The throttle, mixture, and propeller controls were found full-forward and fire-damaged. The fuel selector valve was heavily fire-damaged, found in a position consistent with the auxiliary position. The empennage was mostly intact; the right ruddervator was separated and had a circular impact mark consistent with the power pole.
Both propeller blades remained attached; one was bent aft about 90° midspan, the other slightly aft with a forward bend near the tip. The engine remained attached and all accessories were attached. The propeller rotated about 1/2 inch by hand. Control continuity was established. The engine was removed and examined at Continental Motors Inc. on November 16-17, 2015. After installing a test propeller and necessary components, the engine ran at various power settings uneventfully until shut off by mixture.
Medical and Pathological Information
The Riverside County Coroner conducted an autopsy and determined the cause of death was "massive blunt force injuries to torso." FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) performed toxicology tests; results were negative for carbon monoxide, volatiles, and all screened drugs.
Tests and Research
Review of FAA radar data and ATC transcripts showed that when the pilot initially reported loss of engine power, the airplane was at about 2,425 ft mean sea level (msl), or about 1,644 ft above ground level (agl); heading about 094°; and about 1.65 nm west southwest of the approach end of runway 34 at RAL, 1.74 nm southwest of runway 9, and 2.3 nm from runway 27. Radar data depicted the flight track continuing easterly until about 0.96 nm south of runway 27 at about 1,400 ft msl (653 ft agl). The airplane then turned left to a northerly heading while descending. The last radar target was about 0.1 nm west of the accident site at 775 ft msl.