History of Flight
On October 4, 2016, at 1826 central daylight time, a Beech D95A airplane, registration N76S, was destroyed after impacting trees and terrain near Hitchcock, Texas. The flight instructor was fatally injured and the pilot receiving instruction was seriously injured. The instructional flight was operated by Bay Area Flying Club, Pearland, Texas, under Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which originated from Pearland Regional Airport (KLVJ), Pearland, Texas.
According to the pilot's brother who spoke with the pilot in the hospital after the accident, the purpose of the flight was for the flight instructor to demonstrate aerodynamic stalls. The pilot reported that a stall was initiated from about 4,000 ft mean sea level (msl). The pilot vaguely remembered the instructor cursing the airplane because the flight instructor was unable to recover from the stall maneuver. The pilot could not recall further details.
A duck hunter about 1 mile south of the accident site took a cell phone video that captured the airplane descending in a fully-developed right spin.
Data from an onboard GPS unit showed the airplane entered a climb from about 4,000 ft at 1825:23, reaching a peak altitude of about 4,800 ft at about 1825:50. The airplane then entered a descent that continued until the end of the recorded data at 1826:44.
Personnel Information
The flight instructor held an airline transport pilot certificate with multiengine land and commercial single-engine and glider ratings, as well as a flight instructor certificate with single-engine, multiengine, glider, and instrument ratings. His most recent FAA medical certificate, dated September 2, 2015, required corrective lenses. According to his logbooks, he had accumulated 9,898 total flight hours, of which 4,635 hours were in multiengine airplanes, but only 16 hours in multiengine airplanes in the previous 11 years. He had logged 11.6 total hours in the accident airplane make and model, all within the previous two months, with 6.7 hours as a flight instructor. His logbooks indicated he had never practiced stalls in the accident airplane make and model.
The pilot receiving instruction held a private pilot certificate with single-engine land rating. His third-class FAA medical certificate, dated September 2, 2014, had no restrictions. According to his logbook, he had 113.7 total flight hours, of which 110.3 hours were in single-engine airplanes. The remaining 3.4 hours were in the accident airplane make and model.
Aircraft Information
The accident airplane, serial number TD-605, was manufactured by Beech Aircraft Corporation in 1965. It was powered by two Lycoming IO-360-B1B engines, each rated at 180 horsepower, driving Hartzell HC-92WK-2B two-blade, all-metal, constant-speed propellers. The left engine and propeller were overhauled on February 28, 2014, due to a propeller strike. The airframe, both engines, and both propellers received a 100-hour/annual inspection on August 1, 2016. At that time, the tachometer read 2,696.1 hours, and the airframe had accumulated 4,085.2 hours. The left engine had 2,696.1 total hours (1,066.9 since major overhaul); the left propeller had 4,085.2 total hours (24.0 since major overhaul); the right engine had 700.7 hours since factory remanufacture; and the right propeller had 4,085.2 total hours (329.2 since major overhaul). The last altimeter, transponder, encoder, and static system checks were made on August 12, 2014.
Meteorological Information
At 1752, Scholes International Airport (KGLS), Galveston, Texas, about 11 miles east of the accident site, reported wind from 110° at 11 knots, visibility 10 miles, scattered clouds at 2,300 ft, temperature 28°C, dew point 24°C, and altimeter setting 29.79 inches of mercury. Sunset occurred at 1902, end of evening nautical twilight at 1925.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane impacted a tree-lined canal next to a fallow rice field in a slightly wings-level, nose-down attitude. The wreckage was recovered and transported to Air Salvage of Dallas, Lancaster, Texas, for examination. No pre-existing discrepancies or anomalies were noted with the airframe or either engine, and nothing was found that would have precluded the engines from developing power. The bottoms of both propeller spinners were flattened.
Additional Information
The National Transportation Safety Board had issued Safety Recommendations A-81-49 through -53 on May 7, 1981, regarding the propensity of Beech Baron and Travel Air series airplanes to enter flat spins under conditions of high asymmetric power and low speed. The report noted that training for potential emergencies, such as an engine-out condition, may be more hazardous than the emergency itself. In 1974, the U.S. Army issued a report on stall characteristics of the Beech T-42A, similar to the B55B and D95A airplanes.
The Beech D95A Owner's Manual, Section 3, page 6, states: "This is a normal category airplane. Maneuvers, including spins, are prohibited." Section 4, page 9, provides recovery procedures if a spin is entered inadvertently: cut power on both engines, apply full opposite rudder, then move elevator forward until rotation stops, then recover smoothly.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy on the flight instructor conducted by the Galveston County Medical Examiner listed the cause of death as blunt force injuries. Toxicological testing by the FAA's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory was negative for carbon monoxide and ethanol. Metoprolol, a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist (beta blocker) used for hypertension and arrhythmias, was detected in urine and subclavian blood.