Incident Overview
On October 20, 2022, at about 1258 mountain standard time, a Beechcraft V35B airplane, registration N50JM, was substantially damaged in an accident near Nogales, Arizona. The pilot sustained minor injuries, and the passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries. The flight was operated as a personal flight under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Sequence of Events
The pilot reported returning from Tarkio, Missouri (K57) on a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan. At 1252, the pilot canceled VFR flight following, announced intentions on the common traffic advisory frequency for Nogales International Airport (OLS), and entered the left downwind for runway 21. He lowered the landing gear and, after turning to base leg, confirmed three green landing gear lights with his passenger. At that time, the aural landing gear warning system indicated the landing gear was down for landing.
During touchdown, the airplane immediately “flopped down” and veered left. The pilot applied right brake and rudder to regain the runway centerline but decided to abort the landing. He applied full power and raised the landing gear. Striations on the runway, consistent with propeller strike marks, were observed about 150 feet beyond the 1,000-foot markers of runway 21. The pilot reported that the airplane could not gain airspeed and decided to land off the airport. After circling north via the east side of the airport, he was still unable to gain airspeed and executed a forced landing to an open field about 0.5 nautical miles north of the approach end of runway 21. The airplane came to rest on its belly, oriented northeast. A postcrash fire ensued, and the airplane subsequently exploded.
One witness reported watching what appeared to be a normal landing, then heard the engine rev up and saw the landing gear retracted. He stated he saw the right side of the airplane on fire after the aborted landing. Another witness observed the airplane flying nose-high at very low altitude during the balked landing, reporting it was “on the edge of a stall, his gear was up, barely hanging on at about 10-30 feet above the ground.” He did not observe fire until after impact with terrain.
Postaccident Examination
Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no preimpact anomalies with the flight control system. Rudder control cables were traced from cockpit to rudder through cuts made by recovery personnel. Although fire-damaged, the right main landing gear linkages were continuous from the landing gear actuator to the gear. The left main landing gear linkages were continuous from actuator to gear through an overload separation at the drive tube near the left-wing root. The landing gear and brake systems were destroyed by fire and could not be examined due to lack of available evidence.
Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies. The pilot and witnesses who observed the aborted landing stated the engine sounded like it was developing full power. Each propeller blade displayed deformation about 20 inches from its blade root; bending, curling, and chordwise scratching was consistent with damage to a propeller with an engine developing full power. No tire marks from the accident airplane were found on the runway, but propeller strike markings consistent with an engine developing full power while in contact with the runway were present.