N86GW

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On September 21, 2002, about 1150 eastern daylight time, a Beagle Aircraft B-206 Series 2 airplane, N86GW, was destroyed when it collided with terrain while turning onto final approach for the Little River Airpark near McAlpin, Florida. The airplane was registered to and operated by SMM, Inc., as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the flight that originated from Jacksonville, Florida's Herlong Airport about 1115.

According to numerous witnesses who had assembled adjacent to runway 36 at the Little River private airpark, the pilot had not landed at the airpark before. The purpose of the flight was to determine if the twin-engine airplane fit in the hangar owned by a potential buyer on the airpark.

One of the witnesses was in contact with the pilot via a handheld radio, and the aircraft was first sighted southeast of the airpark, flying westbound. The pilot was given vectors to help him locate the airpark, and once he sighted the field, he executed two circular orbits over the field. He then took a heading that would establish the airplane on a right downwind landing pattern for runway 36 (3,375 feet long by 50 feet wide, turf runway). Witnesses stated he flew a fairly "tight" downwind pattern that was a "little low" (about 650 to 750 feet above ground level [agl], as opposed to 1,000 to 1,500 feet agl). The surface winds were from the east, and according to the witnesses, the result was that the pilot overshot his turn to final approach. The pilot corrected back toward the centerline in a fairly steep bank when the airplane was observed to enter a roll to the right, the nose dropped toward the ground. The witnesses then lost sight of the airplane as it descended behind trees in a nose low pitch attitude.

Witnesses estimated the altitude of the airplane at the time of the roll was between 300 and 350 feet agl. They also reported hearing a "pop" just as the aircraft entered the right roll. The aircraft impacted a grass field about 0.4 miles southwest of the airpark, in a rural housing area.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with single-engine land, multi-engine land, and instrument airplane ratings. His most recent third-class medical certificate was issued on November 2, 2000, with the limitation, "Holder shall wear correcting lenses while exercising the privileges of his airman certificate." The pilot had satisfactorily completed a flight review as required by Federal Air Regulation, (FAR) 61.56 on January 31, 2002, in a Beech 35 single-engine airplane. The flight review lasted one hour and included slow-flight and steep turn maneuvers, power on and power off stalls, and emergency landings.

The pilot's flight time, taken from the pilot's most recent logbook, totaled 1,863 flight hours, which consisted of 927 hours of single-engine airplanes and 914 hours of multi-engine airplanes. His total time as pilot-in-command equated to 1,717 hours.

The last page of the pilot's logbook reflected entries from April 27, 2002 to September 6, 2002. Total flight time for the page was 25.3 hours, representing nine flights, all pilot-in-command, divided thusly: 24.7 hours in single-engine type aircraft and 0.6 hours flown on May 27, 2002, in N86GW. Since October 2001, the pilot logged two flights (totaling 4.1 hours) in the accident airplane. An acquaintance of the pilot reported he had logged approximately 300+ hours in the accident airplane

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The 1966-model airplane was powered by two 340-horsepower Teledyne Continental Motors GTSIO-520-C engines. The aircraft was being actively marketed by an aircraft broker, First Coast Aircraft Sales at Herlong Airport, for about a year prior to the accident. The aircraft underwent an annual inspection that was signed off on February 12, 2002, at an aircraft total time of 3,378 hours, and a Hobbs meter reading of 1,137.0 hours. That Hobbs time was also the time indicated on November 16, 2001, when the engine's oil was changed. Time displayed on the Hobbs at the accident site was 1,140.3 hours, or 3.3 hours in at last the last 10 months.

According to the owner/operator of First Coast Aircraft Sales, the relative long period of inactivity of the aircraft at the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002 was due to concerns by the owner, the annual inspector, and a Designated Engineering Representative (DER) concerning the remedy for a spot found on the left wing spar that had been exposed to paint stripper. The DER signed off on the repair on January 23, 2002, and the annual was completed and signed off on February 12, 2002. The engine logbooks revealed the left and right engine accumulated 131.3 and 1,141.3 hours since their last overhaul, respectively, at the time of the accident. The propellers had been changed at the same time as the left engine, and each had accumulated 131.3 hours since their last overhaul.

The owner/operator of First Coast Aircraft Sales stated that the pilot/owner of N86GW had recently changed the Hoskins fuel management computer/indicator, and believed that the unit may not have been calibrated to the aircraft. He opined that its use by the pilot/owner may have been a factor in the accident.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

At 1252, the Lake City weather observation facility (located 18 miles east of the accident site) reported the wind from 070 degrees at 5 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, scattered clouds at 3,800 feet and 4,800 feet agl, temperature 92 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and a barometric pressure of 29.91 inches of Hg.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The wreckage site consisted of a vacant, grass and hard packed sand field fronting the 7500-block of 192nd Street in a rural housing area of McAlpin at coordinates 030.06.095 degrees north latitude by 082.54.075 degrees west longitude, and an elevation of about 94 feet mean sea level. Relative to the approach end of runway 36, the wreckage was located about 2,000 feet on a 195-degree magnetic bearing.

Witness statements and wreckage evidence indicated the descent angle was steep enough that the wreckage remained essentially where first terrain impact occurred. The cabin area displayed aft crushing from the bottom side. The nose of the airplane was facing a 250-degree heading. The measurement of the aft crushing damage on the leading edges of the wings equated to 70 degrees nose down on the left wing and 50 degrees nose down on the right wing. A ground scar that indented the packed sand under the left wing was 4 feet longer than the left wing span.

After terrain impact, the empennage remained stuck in the air. The empennage and aft fuselage, from a point 2.5 feet aft of the wing trailing edge, had sheared at a riveted lap joint and "jackknifed" upward and forward, resulting in the tip of the left horizontal stabilizer nearly contacting the aft left engine nacelle.

McAlpin fire/rescue personnel arrived at the accident scene within minutes of the crash (they received an emergency call at 1230 and were on scene at 1237), and reported detecting no smell of fuel, no fuel escaping from the engines or fuel tanks, nor any evidence of fuel absorbed into the soil. Examination of the wing fuel tanks revealed both had been compromised and were void of fuel. About one gallon of fuel leaked from the left wing when the wreckage was moved. Type certification data sheets for the Beagle B-206 series 2 state that the unusable fuel quantity is 36 pounds or 6.1 gallons.

Most of the windshield and window glass had shattered and was contained within about a 60-foot radius semi-circle oriented one o'clock to the wreckage heading. The landing gear were extended, and had collapsed rearward. The landing gear handle was in the "down" position, and the flaps were selected to the "takeoff" position. The right flap was found in the "takeoff" position, while the left flap was full down. The right flap hinges were found broken. Cockpit controls for trim were positioned close to "neutral" for rudder and aileron. Pitch trim was found at about a needle width beyond "takeoff" in the "nose up" position. Actual trim positions at the flight controls matched what had been selected in the cockpit. The left wingtip was detached and the left aileron was separated, but located in its normal position. The right aileron's outboard hinge was broken.

Flight control continuity along all three axes was confirmed from the flight control surfaces to a location under the floorboards of the cockpit. Damage to the floorboard area precluded further examination.

Examination of the cockpit engine controls revealed that the left throttle was full forward, while the right throttle was about 1-inch aft of full forward. The mixture controls were both full forward, and the left propeller control was about midrange, while the right propeller was at full rpm. Both magnetos were in the "both" position, the fuel boost pumps were on, and both alternators were on. The left engine fuel selector was positioned to "left tank" and the right engine selector was positioned to the "right tank". The cowl flap switches were positioned to "open," which matched the position noted on the engine cowlings. The fuel quantity gages indicated 280 pounds for the left tank and 60 pounds on the right. Fuel pressure gages displayed "5" psi on the left and "0" psi on the right.

Both propellers were buried in the sand, and when the wreckage was removed, the three craters made by the engines and nose were about 2.5 feet deep. The right propeller had separated at the crankshaft flange, and both engines had about a 20-degree droop within their respective mounts, once the wreckage was dragged from the wreckage crater. Examination of both 3-bladed, "Q-tip" type propellers revealed slight ben...