Loss of control Accident Beechcraft D45 Mentor N34KT,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 139670
 
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Date:Saturday 5 November 2011
Time:16:44
Type:Silhouette image of generic T34P model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Beechcraft D45 Mentor
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N34KT
MSN: BG-271
Total airframe hrs:10535 hours
Engine model:Continental IO-550-B/BP
Fatalities:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Williston, Levy County, FL -   United States of America
Phase: Take off
Nature:Training
Departure airport:Williston, FL (96FL)
Destination airport:Daytona Beach, FL (7FL6)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
Witnesses observed the airplane take off on a turf runway surrounded by trees. The airplane appeared to perform an exaggerated soft-field takeoff and became airborne within a couple of hundred feet. It then ballooned up and started to settle but then leveled off just above the runway and accelerated. When the airplane passed abeam friends of the flight instructor who were near the runway, they reported observing a few puffs of smoke emanating from the airplane's smoke system and the airplane's wings wagging up and down. When the airplane reached the end of the runway, witnesses saw it pitch up abruptly to a steep nose-up attitude and climb to about 200 feet above ground level. It then yawed and rolled left while pitching nose down. Witnesses observed the nose of the airplane oscillate up and down before the airplane descended rapidly and impacted a tree and terrain.

Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact malfunctions of the airplane or engine. However, examination of the tungsten filaments from the light bulbs in the stall warning indicator lights revealed that they were stretched and distorted, indicating they were likely illuminated during impact.

The flight instructor was described as knowing airplane energy management very well; however, on the day of the accident, he may have been surprised after he cleared the top of the trees surrounding the airport, where he went from a little, or no wind condition, to a condition where the airplane would have suddenly been subjected to a 30 degree crosswind and wind gusting from 10 to 16 knots. This would have affected the airplane's flight path and resulted in a loss of energy, possibly resulting in the loss of control and stall.
Probable Cause: The flight instructor's failure to maintain airspeed in changing wind conditions during a steep climb after takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor’s ostentatious display close to the ground.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ERA12FA062
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB
ex.US Navy/Bu140937.

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
06-Nov-2011 02:11 gerard57 Added
06-Nov-2011 05:07 RobertMB Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
06-Nov-2011 07:07 PC12 Updated [Source]
06-Nov-2011 08:42 Boyd Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
06-Nov-2011 08:43 harro Updated [Aircraft type]
06-Nov-2011 09:22 RobertMB Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
09-Dec-2011 01:24 Geno Updated [Location, Phase, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
28-Jun-2016 19:10 TB Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative]
21-Dec-2016 19:26 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
27-Nov-2017 17:24 ASN Update Bot Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
08-Feb-2022 14:06 A.J.Scholten Updated [Source]

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