Accident Details
On July 4, 2020, about 2200 central daylight time, a Beech F35 airplane, registration N4219B, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Ravenna, Texas. The pilot sustained minor injuries; the passenger was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
Flight and Events
The flight originated at Stan Stamper Municipal Airport (HHW), Hugo, Oklahoma, about 1915. According to the pilot, the engine run-up and departure were normal with no anomalies. Shortly after reaching cruising altitude and engaging the autopilot, the pilot instructed the passenger to plug in an "icebox cooler" they had brought for in-flight air conditioning. The pilot explained they had used the cooler on a previous flight from its built-in battery, but the battery capacity was low so it required 12 volts from the airplane's system. When the 12-volt plug was inserted into the airplane's outlet, the pilot heard a loud pop, or a "firecracker" sound, from under the engine cowling.
At that time, the autopilot disengaged, and the airplane pitched up. The pilot instructed the passenger to push the nose down to avoid a stall while he completed the "Electrical System Failure" checklist. He noted no circuit breakers were popped. As the nose was lowered, the pilot reached under the dash to manually re-trim the pitch wheel to an increased nose-down position. As the airplane regained airspeed, he noticed a drop in engine rpm. The pilot advanced the throttle, changed the fuel selector to the left main tank, and cycled each magneto on and off, with no change in engine performance.
Emergency Landing
The pilot used a GPS to find the nearest airport, a private 3,000 ft grass airstrip about 4.5 miles away. He waited until closer to the airstrip to manually extend the landing gear. With gear down and locked, he entered the traffic pattern for a right downwind to the north runway but was unable to extend the electrical flaps. He subsequently broke off his base leg and aimed for a landing on the "numbers." As he approached the runway into the sun, he noticed about 10 large round hay bales stacked 8 ft tall on the edge of the runway. The pilot felt that trying to pull up over the bales would induce a stall, so he turned right just as the airplane touched down. About 100 ft after touchdown, the left wing impacted the stack of hay bales, and the airplane spun left and came to a sudden stop.
Postaccident Examination
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. Postaccident examination by a mechanic revealed no anomalies with the airplane's electrical system. The engine examination revealed low compression on all cylinders, spark plugs that were "badly worn," and the fuel screen was 80% clogged. The mechanic reported that a cause of the electrical failure could not be determined because everything operated properly. Several attempts to obtain a completed NTSB Pilot/Operator Accident Report and maintenance records were unsuccessful.