History of Flight
On October 22, 2016, at approximately 1335 central daylight time, a Beech C23 airplane, registration N20087, collided with trees and impacted terrain after taking off from Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport (AIZ) in Osage Beach, Missouri. The commercial pilot and a passenger were fatally injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight was operated under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal cross-country flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
The airplane had departed earlier that day from Tucumcari Municipal Airport (TCC) in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and was en route to an undetermined destination. According to the pilot's wife, the pilot had recently purchased the airplane in Reno, Nevada, and was flying it with his daughter to their home in New Britain, Pennsylvania. She last spoke with them on October 21, when they were in Boulder City, Nevada. They then flew to Tucumcari, where they spent the night. On the accident day, the pilot planned to fly past Saint Louis, Missouri, and stop for the night east of Saint Louis.
At AIZ, a fixed base operator employee heard the pilot report a 4-mile final approach. After landing, the airplane stopped near the runup area of runway 4. The employee attempted to contact the pilot, but the transmission was garbled. The pilot then took off without taxiing to the ramp. The employee heard normal engine sounds during ground and takeoff operations. No known witnesses observed the accident. The wreckage was discovered by mountain bikers about 1,000 feet east of the departure end of runway 4 in a heavily wooded area of a state park.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate and a third-class Federal Aviation Administration medical certificate, issued on November 6, 2014, with the limitation that corrective lenses must be worn. On that application, he reported 934 total flight hours, with 3 hours in the preceding 6 months. The family reported that he was in good health, used a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, and was not on any medications. He was known to adhere strictly to checklist standards.
Aircraft Information
The airplane, a Beech C23, had an annual inspection completed on March 1, 2016, at a total airframe time of 9,368.16 hours. The directional gyro was replaced on October 17, 2016, at 9,415.17 hours. At the accident site, the tachometer read 9,432.63 hours. The fuel capacity was 59.8 gallons, of which 58.8 gallons were usable. Credit card records showed the pilot purchased fuel at TCC, and no other fuel charges were made afterward. Several airports in Oklahoma and Kansas were noted in the pilot's notebook, but FAA inspectors could not find another airport where the pilot bought fuel.
Performance data from Textron Aviation indicated that at an estimated groundspeed of 110 knots, the airplane burned an average of 10.5 gallons per hour. A direct flight from TCC to AIZ of 561.2 nautical miles in no-wind conditions would take about 4 hours 50 minutes and require approximately 50.75 gallons of fuel, not including fuel used for ground operations, takeoff, and climb. Textron Aviation stated that for takeoff, flaps should be in the fully retracted (UP) position; performing a takeoff with flaps fully extended would result in significant drag and pitch change.
Meteorological Information
No significant weather was recorded near the accident site at the time of the accident.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The main wreckage consisted of all major components. The first impact was with a 50-foot-tall tree; the outer left wing and wingtip remained suspended in the tree. The second impact left a ground scar with the right wing tip beside it. The airplane came to rest on its right side and slightly inverted. The right wing was fractured rearward and partially folded under the fuselage, with its spar fractured. The left wing was pointing upward against a tree, with the outboard portion partially separated. Flight control continuity was established except for the right aileron drive cable, which was fractured and later examined, showing cup-and-cone fractures with no preexisting corrosion or wear.
The flaps were found at 35° (fully extended), and witness marks on the wing trailing edge were consistent with full flap extension at impact. The emergency locator beacon was off. Several ounces of fuel were present in the fuel strainer bowl, and the screen was clean. Due to the wreckage position, fuel leakage could not be quantified. The fuel selector was on the left tank. No airframe anomalies were detected. The propeller remained attached; one blade was relatively straight, while the other showed S-bending with leading edge polishing and chord-wise scratches. Engine examination found no anomalies; compression and continuity were established, spark was produced, and fuel was present in the carburetor and pump.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy determined the pilot's cause of death as blunt force injuries. The examination revealed hypertrophy of the left ventricle and mild atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, but no thromboemboli or evidence of recent heart attack. Forensic toxicology tests were negative for carbon monoxide and ethanol. Cetirizine was detected in urine and blood; hydroxyzine in blood; and salicylate (aspirin) in urine. Cetirizine is an over-the-counter antihistamine that may cause drowsiness; the FAA recommends a 48-hour wait after the last dose before performing airman duties. Hydroxyzine, a prescription antihistamine with a long half-life, has an FAA-recommended 6-day wait. Aspirin is an over-the-counter pain reliever.
Tests and Research
The pilot's Garmin VIRB camera was recovered from the wreckage. The family reported that the pilot used the camera during flights. The memory cards did not sustain damage, but file system timestamps before and around the accident time were present, along with at least two zero-byte files indicating a corrupted file system. No data pertinent to the accident flight was recovered.