Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S INADEQUATE IN-FLIGHT DECISION IN THE SELECTION OF THE SIMULATED FORCED LANDING AREA, AND HIS DELAY IN INITIATING A GO AROUND WHICH RESULTED IN THE AIRPLANE COLLIDING WITH TREES.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On Saturday, October 23, 1993, about 1030 eastern daylight time, a Beech 77, N67197, piloted by Michael D. MacMann, was substantially damaged during a practice forced landing near Littleton, Massachusetts. The flight instructor was not injured and the student pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan had been filed for the flight operating under 14 CFR 91.
In the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the flight instructor stated that this was a dual instructional flight and they initiated a simulated, off-field forced landing at 2500 feet. The airplane completed two descending spirals and was in a "relatively steep descent", when the flight instructor "first saw a previously unnoticed hill" between the aircraft and the selected simulated off-field landing site.
The instructor further stated:
"...I immediately added full power and leveled the wings in an attempt to arrest the descent. The aircraft brushed the tops of the trees...at the time of contact...[the airplane]...was in a level flight attitude, but in a slight descent...the aircraft was...slightly above stall speed. After making contact with the trees, the aircraft became uncontrollable, pitched downward and made...two spirals through the trees...the unexpected...high rate of descent may have resulted from air disturbances in the vicinity of the hill...I never would have chosen this site had I been aware of the intervening hill."
The student pilot stated:
"...My observation...is that distance above the ground and airspeed was misjudged. In front of the field where we were supposed to simulate a landing at, was a hill with trees...We descended ...lower than the hill in front of us and tried to recover, but stalled in the process...I looked at the airspeed indicator and it read about 38 knots (about 200 feet to 150 feet) and dropping. The aircraft nose and left wing began to drop...we stalled...about...10 feet above the trees..."
The FAA Inspector's statement stated:
"...The CFI felt the engine operated normally on the attempt to clear the hill, He did not suspect carburetor ice or any other malfunction..."
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# NYC94LA017